It's Better to Have Loved and Lost
by An Aspiring Author
Summary: AU Marauder Era Times are dark and growing darker, but the antics and drama of Lily, James and friends provide a beam of light and hope. Join them on their journey through Hogwarts 7th yr and beyond as they learn about what it is to love laugh and lose
1. The Great Spin the Bottle Debacle

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Harry Potter or Harry Potter related copyrights. **

**A/N. Here's the brand new chapter 1! Hopefully soon the brand new chapter two will be up! sorry about the long delay! Please read and review! (even if you reviewed fro chapter 1.1)**

It was 2 a.m. in the middle of an empty classroom the morning after finals when someone in the crowd that had gathered for the post-finals party suggested a couple of rounds of "Spin the Bottle." This was met with a loud voice of approval from the crowd of sugar-high girls, so a butterbeer bottle was quickly acquired and placed in the center of a rapidly growing circle of girls trying to squeeze in. Now all they needed were some males…

"Marly, you are insane!" said Lillian Evans groggily as she was roused by her night owl of a friend in the very early hours of the morning. "What's going on?"

"I need your help," answered Marlene McKinnon quietly so as not to wake Alice Green, who was sleeping in the bed next to Lily's and was a very light sleeper.

"With what?" asked Lily tiredly. Marlene was known for her crazy schemes and far-out stories.

"Ummm, well…" Marlene stretched out each syllable to give herself the most amount of time possible to think of an explanation that Lily would accept.

"Just spit it out Marlene."

"Okay, just don't yell; you know how light of a sleeper Alice is," began Marlene.

"We'll see."

Figuring that Lily deserved to be a bit grumpy and bitter for being awoken early in the morning after a week that was probably more stressing for her than 98 percent of the student body, Marlene divulged the mission that had been entrusted to her by the gathering of girls at the party.

Lily listened to the whole story silently and then, at its conclusion, she just sighed deeply. Marlene got involved with the most outlandish plots, and she usually convinced Lily to help her out.

"Let's just skip the pleading and I'll just say yes right now," said Lily tiredly.

Marly squealed louder than was necessary and said, "Thanks Lily!"

"Okay whatever, so what part do you want me to play?"

"Well, I need you to do some of your fancy charm work for me."

"I figured as much…" muttered Lily. "Let me guess, a couple of disillusionment charms?"

"You know me too well," said Marly with a grin. "But, there are also a coupel of other things I need you to help me with…"

"No way!" said Lily loudly when she heard what else Marlene was asking of her. "Never in a million years!"

Just then the curtains surrounding Alice's bed, which helped to muffle the outside noise that might be disturbing to her, were shoved aside briskly.

Marlene turned to her friend with a sheepish grin on her face, "Good morning sunshine!"

Alice did not look amused.

"Well, as long as you're up, you can help too!"

Alice didn't respond at first. Then, much like Lily, she sighed audibly. "I heard most of it, and sure, I'll help too; though you have to understand that I think this is an incredibly stupid idea."

"No need to be callous now Allie," said Marlene gleefully.

"It is a stupid idea and you know it, otherwise you wouldn't have thought of it," said the normally very passive Alice.

Marlene looked a bit pouty for a moment, but quickly shrug it off. "Come on! You two need to get dressed! Well, you need to put on what I tell you to wear."

Lily and Alice rolled their eyes and exchanged looks of exasperation.

Twenty minutes and many arguments later, Lily and Alice, normally rule-abiding students, were tiptoeing down the squeaky girls' dormitory staircase and into the common room.

"Now I have already done most of the dirty work," said Marlene conspiratorially. "All you guys have to do is help me levitate them and of course disillusion them and ourselves."

Lily and Alice shrugged and set to work. The trio walked up the boys' dormitory stairs, more loudly because they didn't know the creaks and squeaky boards to be wary of, and stopped outside the door of the sixth year boys' sleeping quarters.

Marlene, who was heading the little group, signaled her friends to be silent with a finger pressed to her lips and proceeded to push open the door to the room. Lily looked and Alice and rolled her eyes; Alice giggled softly. Marlene turned around and glared at them. She probably would have shushed them also if she wasn't afraid of making more noise.

As the three girls crept into the dormitory, making as little noise as possible, Lily lit her wand with a silent 'lumos' spell.

The light illuminated the mess that covered the floor; of course none of the six Gryffindor boys had even started to round up their possessions, which prevented several potential accidents.

A few stifled giggles later (a couple of the boys snored and another one talked in his sleep), Marlene found the bed of one of their two victims and Lily soon stumbled upon the other.

Lily gently pulled back the scarlet curtains that had sloppily been pulled into place only two hours before and was met by the sight of James Potter sleeping. His hair was as messy as ever, the ebony locks starkly contrasting with the white of the pillowcase. It was the same James Potter, and yet, Lily didn't recognize him. The boy who had crashed on top of his wrinkled blankets after some late-night, last-minute prank pulling with his best mates, was not the same person that Lily was currently gazing upon rather shamelessly. The person that was spread out on the bed had a creased brow betraying the turmoil and problems within. Lily hadn't ever seen James looking quite so serious and not himself; it was as if he was more a man than a boy, and that scared Lily.

Lily didn't want James to grow up; she knew that she would fall for him if he did. No matter how much she had always tried to deny it, she really did like James, and not just as a friend. The only thing that was standing in the way of a relationship between Lily and James was James' lack of maturity and Lily's overdose of it; that was the only thing that had ever been between them.

"Found him," Lily whispered into the darkness without taking her eyes off of the boy, no, the man, before her.

Marly appeared at her side suddenly. "Excellent. Alice is levitating Sirius, I'll get James, and you just follow us down to the common room; you can perform the charms there."

As she stepped back to let Marlene do her part, Lily felt the need to say, "I told you that this was insane, right?"

"Just a couple of times," said Marlene as she concentrated on navigating James' rather limp, yet slightly and erratically moving, body out of his bed and around the other beds in the room.

Once in the common room, Lily fulfilled her main duty and then turned to go back up the stairs to her nice soft bed in her dormitory.

But, before she could even step on the first stair, Marlene caught her and said playfully, "And just where do you think you're going missy?"

"Back to bed. Thanks to you, I have gotten only a very few hours of sleep tonight," replied Lily wearily.

"I don't think so," said Marly. "You're coming with us to the party."

"I think not," said Lily.

"Come on Lily, if I have to go, then you have to go," Alice whined.

"You don't have to go, no one is making you."

"But Lily, I want to go. Don't you just want to do something crazy and impulsive for once in your life?"

"No, I can live without the excitement and possible punishments that come out of it. Nothing good is going to come out of this."

"Oh stop being a wet blanket Lil," said Marlene, who was very annoyed by her friend's reluctance to break the rules. "You're just being a paranoid baby, nothing horrible is going to happen to you when you walk out of this portrait hole."

"Please Lily, I don't think I can do this without you."

"Come on Lil, you look fabulous! You can't let those tight jeans go to waste; you have a nice ass and with those jeans you look amazing."

Lily was still hesitant; she found it hard not to think of all the things that could, and probably would, go wrong with this plan.

"Fine! I'll go," said Lily as Marlene and Alice's faces lit up. "But on one condition, I get to leave whenever I want to, no arguments."

"Sure, fine, whatever," said Marlene, not knowing that Lily would actually have a reason to leave before the party was over.

Lily then disillusioned herself and followed her friends out into the night.

-----

"Shut up everyone! Now here are the rules provided to you by Ophelia Wilkes," said a Slytherin sixth year named Danielle, soon after all of the night's victims had arrived.

"The name of the game is Spin the Bottle. The rules are simple, a girl spins the bottle and whoever the neck of the bottle points to, she has to kiss. Now, as you know, we have voted on the hottest guys at school, two from each house, and their housemates have been kind enough to retrieve them for our little game. I present to you James Potter and Sirius Black, from Gryffindor," the fifth year Slytherin girl gestured to two sixth year guys, who had been recently awoken from their magically induced sleep, courtesy of Marlene, and were looking very pleased with themselves. Then Ophelia introduced the other six guys who were looking much like James and Sirius, not at all distressed at the thought of being kidnapped early in the morning but a few hormonal teenage girls for a kissing game.

"Anyone who spins the bottle and it lands on a girl obviously gets to spin again until it lands on a boy. Now, I'll go first and show all of you novices how it's done."

As Ophelia spun the bottle, Sirius could have sworn that he saw a flash of a wand from her direction that caused the bottle to come to a stop directly in front of James.

Three minutes and forty-three seconds later, Ophelia returned to her spot in the circle of extremely giggly girls; her lip gloss was severely smudged, and she looked extraordinarily conceited.

Nine girls and nine kisses later, it was Lily's turn. Normally she wouldn't have participated in a game that she considered to be demoralizing and sexist, but Marlene had forced her into the circle at the last minute and now she was stuck. She rolled her eyes and spun the bottle. Amazingly Ophelia's wand was seen to have flashed again just as the bottle slowed down almost to a stop in front of James. She caused it to speed up slightly enough to land on Sirius, but it was not obvious enough for anyone but Lily and James to notice.

James had already been kissed four times and looked extremely self-satisfied, but he looked a little twitchy and nervous as it came time for Lily's turn. This increased as the time came for the girl he was crushing on to kiss his best friend.

Lily had very conflicting feelings. She wasn't sure, first of all, what she felt for James; especially after she had witnessed him kissing four girls and enjoy it. James was the bad boy every girl dreams of, he was a popular jock, good-looking, but a serious flirt and he was always teasing and hexing people. Though, Lily had noticed that he had ceased to be such an arrogant bully in the recent months. He had also stopped asking her out and making rude comments to her. In fact, he was actually behaving himself for the most part, at least in front of Lily.

Lily was starting to see him as a companion, maybe even a friend, possibly as something more, which is what really was scaring her out of her wits. She wasn't supposed to fall in love; that just wasn't on her agenda. Lily considered herself much too practical to become one of those giggly girls who seemed to live only for their boyfriends.

As the bottle was slowing down, these thoughts flashed through her brain, accompanying the already present wishes that she hadn't let Alice and Marlene convince her to go to the party.

But then as Ophelia's wand appeared, Lily suddenly felt better, a little anyways. Now she wouldn't have to confront herself about her feelings towards James. That is, she felt better until she considered who Sirius was.

"_He is James' best friend,"_ was screaming in her mind. Everything in her said to just leave, but that was before she glanced over at James. He was whispering to a Hufflepuff girl in a far too tight shirt and very ripped jeans, who was sitting right next to him, on the side of him that Ophelia hadn't claimed. She started to blush and he was smiling and snickering. That image stuck in her mind for a long time, like a peanut butter sandwich on the roof of your mouth, and Lily didn't have any milk to wash it down. Lily then decided her next action.

-----

Back in their dormitory with stashed goodies from the kitchen, three teen girls were discussing the night's events between bites of food and bursts of giggles, and trying to keep it down so that their dorm mates, Dorcas Meadowes and Heather Falland wouldn't wake up, after all it was only three in the morning. They were both very heavy sleepers, so they had not been disturbed yet, but that didn't mean they would stay asleep forever, so for extra protection, Lily took out her wand and cast a soundproof charm around her four-poster bed, which they were all crowded on.

"Allie," began Marlene in a teasing voice, "I believe we totally mistook little Miss Lillian. First she pretends not to want to go to the party at all and then…"

Alice, catching on replied, "I know what you mean Marly, who would have thought that she was after Sirius?"

"At least we were close. James, Sirius; Sirius, James, it's the same difference; they're basically the same person in two bodies."

"Just stop it! There's a huge difference!" shouted Lily.

Ignoring her Alice continued, "Don't worry, with that kiss we can tell who you are totally in love with; it's obviously Sirius."

"You know Alice, I think I saw some _serious_ tongue action tonight."

"Oh you mean some _Sirius_ action?" joked Alice.

"Totally! Who would have thought our Lily was such a party girl?"

"It was so obvious that Sirius was surprised and..."

"Absolutely like, excited about this new, previously hidden side of dear Lillian," finished Marlene.

"Yeah Lily, don't think that we didn't notice his hands running through your hair," teased Alice as Lily turned away from her friends.

"But did you see James' face Alice?" said Marlene as if Lily wasn't even there.

"Who could have missed that face, he was so totally crushed, surprised, crushed and horrified, but mostly he was crushed."

"Especially after Lily threw him that smug look afterwards," said Marlene, still playing her game.

Addressing Lily, Alice said seriously, "Lily, you really hurt him tonight, you know. That was low, especially for you. You really shouldn't have done that to him; you know, put him through this. I thought that you were starting to actually like him. Everyone thought you were on the verge of dating."

"Yeah," joined Marlene. "I can only imagine what he's going through right now. Think about it." She paused then continued. "Sirius is his best friend. It's like James kissing Alice. We did not think you were capable of using him like this."

"It's so bad because you knew he liked you and you didn't stop him from flirting with you. Lately, you even seem to have been encouraging him. Don't think we hadn't noticed."

"Why does everyone insist on running my life?" Lily practically screamed. "Does anyone even care about what I want? Maybe I do like Potter and maybe I don't! But it's my life and it isn't anyone else's business whom I like and whom I want to date. Maybe I did really like Potter, but after tonight I realized that I was, once again, wrong about him. He's never going to grow up; he'll always be the same idiot little boy with only girls, pranks and bullying because he can, on his mind. I guess I can thank you guys for helping me to come to this life-changing realization. I suppose you guys have saved me a lot of heartbreak and trouble. Instead of spending the summer playing the 'he loves me, he loves me not game', I can focus on other things, like my internship and homework. Sound to me like this is going to be a great and memorable summer!"

Marlene and Alice were shocked. Lily was like an ice queen; she hardly ever really displayed her true feelings. This was one of those rare occasions when she let someone actually witness her melt-downs, which occurred far more frequently than Allie and Marly could have ever guessed.

"Just forget about him Lily; he's not worth it anyways," said Marly. "Do whatever you want this summer; you don't owe him anything."

Lily sighed and just stared out at her curtains, not really seeing anything. Finally she said, "Men are such annoying scum! Pass me the frosting would you please Alice?"

Marlene and Alice laughed easily, glad to have their friend, the demur, calm Lillian Evans, back.

-----

As soon as Sirius and James were out of earshot of the empty classroom and alone in the hallway, James stopped short, grabbed Sirius' shoulder, punched him in the face and shouted "You jerk! What the hell was that?"

Instead of answering Sirius just took the punch, turned and just started to walk away. But he wasn't able to get far because James ran and tackled him from behind. Then Sirius got mad, but he didn't throw any punches; it was an unwritten code of the Marauders to just let each other vent, let the annoyed one punch the others a couple of times, then laugh about it and be friends again. Punching back would just prolong the process. But Sirius did throw a few kicks and several swears. After about three minutes of fighting, James' adrenaline ran out and Sirius had him pinned on the ground.

"Prongs, mate, what is your problem?"

"You know fully well what my problem is."

"Not unless you tell me I don't!" shouted Sirius. Then he as paused, waiting for a reply, he looked at James' irate face and it finally dawned on him. "Hey, this is about Evans, isn't it?"

"No," replied James with so much sarcasm that his tone could be mistaken for being sarcastic about being sarcastic, if that makes any sense at all.

"Ok then, so what is this about?" asked Sirius confused as he got up off of his best mate and stood up.

"EVANS! YOU! KISS! HER!" screamed James, exasperated as he ignored the hand that Sirius had extended to him and got up off of the ground on his own.

"Huh? Oh, so this is about Evans…"trailed Sirius.

"Obviously," sneered James.

"So what?"

"So what?! So what?!"

"Yes, that is what I said, so what?" replied Sirius casually.

At this James got a surge of energy from his new surge of anger, and he was able to catch Sirius off guard and pin him up against a wall.

Then as he pressed his best mate into the stone wall, James yelled into Sirius' face, "You, of all people, should know that I really like Lily! You're my best mate! Why would you go behind my back like that?! You know that I have worked long and hard to deflate my head slightly, at her suggestion, so that she would stop hating my bloody guts! And now you're making out with her! And obviously she kissed you back!"

At this point James suddenly realized what he was doing. He had been suppressing his rage for the past hour, when Lily had left the party. She had left right after her own turn, so it had been a very long hour for James. James let go of Sirius and slumped down against the wall with his head in his hands.

Sirius sat down next to him and started to talk as he massaged his bruised limbs. "Prongs, the kiss was nothing. C'mon mate, you know that."

Being the moody teenager he was, when Sirius spoke, it made James angry at Sirius all over again. "You're such a traitor Padfoot! You like her don't you?! You've just been waiting to make your move! I can't believe you!"

"Mate, it wasn't me. I didn't spin that bloody bottle! I didn't open my mouth! I didn't push _her_ over! Maybe she does like me, but that's not my fault either! Pull it together man! It's easy, just pick another girl. That's what I always do when I get bored with one."

Sirius' speech actually calmed James down, so James started to feel sorry for himself. He put his head back into his hands and sighed deeply.

Sirius wasn't really good with the whole sensitive stuff, so he started to idly glance around while he was waiting for James to become rational or angry again. Anger, Sirius could deal with, but blubbering, not that James was blubbering or anything, but if he did, Sirius wasn't going to be much help seeing as it wasn't really his forte.

Luckily for him he saw a shadow coming from the end of the hall where the Gryffindor House was located. As the shadow recognized the figures sitting up against the wall, the person quickened his pace and when he finally reached the spot where the two boys where sitting, he sat down next to Sirius.

"Padfoot," whispered Remus Lupin rather irritably, "what's going on? I was sitting in the common room because I couldn't sleep, and about an hour ago Lily ran in followed by Marlene and Alice. Then just now I heard fighting and yelling. I checked the Map and when I saw that it was you two, I came out. Hang on, let me see. Three girls run into the common room and then later you two are fighting. Let me guess, you couldn't decide who got the third girl."

"Something like that," said Sirius, completely missing the aggravation that was just barely contained by Remus' very believable lie. "I'll fill you in later Moony, let's just get to the common room before we are caught. If you heard us, it's only a matter of minutes before one of the teachers gets here to investigate," said Sirius hurriedly.

"C'mon Prongs let's get out of here," said Remus tiredly. "Hurry up Padfoot and get your arse in there; I hear footsteps," hissed Remus as they were pushing each other to get through the portrait hole.

As soon as James was through, Remus and Sirius jumped through and landed on top of him, forming a laughing, tangled, loud pile of limbs. Remus was the first one to recover his composure, as usual, and as he looked up his eyes met a pair of emerald green ones. He elbowed Sirius, who was still laughing and threw a kick in James' direction before urgently hissing, "Sirius, James, look."

Sirius did look up and realized that the three of them were not exactly in a respectable state and Lily was watching them suspiciously. He jumped up, pulling James up with him, to join the already-standing Remus.

Sirius broke the awkward silence first, "Ummm… ev'nin, uhhhh… Evans."

"Save it Black. I was just going out to get some fresh air, so just get out of my way," cut in Lily sharply. "I'm not in the mood for your antics."

Silently the three friends moved; Remus stepped to the left, and Sirius and James moved to the right.

As Lily was stepping out of the portrait hole, she turned to the boys and opened her mouth as if she wanted to say something, then closed it. Finally she said, "I'm, I'm, not even going to ask."

While Sirius watched Lily leave, he glanced over at his best mate standing silently next to him, and thought up a brilliant scheme.

James had watched Lily leave with a clear look of longing portrayed on his face and in his eyes. Now that she was gone, he was in a depressed mood. James slumped over to an armchair and threw himself onto it.

Meanwhile, Sirius pushed Remus over to a corner and started to talk quietly, "Moony, I have a plan."

"I knew you would, I can tell when you get an idea. What do you need me to do?" replied Sirius' good friend Remus, who knew that he better help or else risk losing his friends. Sirius didn't take too kindly to people who refused to help him, and James was sure to agree with whatever Sirius thought, and then of course, their puppy Peter would never hesitate to turn on anyone, even the person who helped him to pass school, to gain the favor of his idols.

Sirius smiled his patented pranking smile, and said, "Go catch up to Evans. Get her to the second floor broom closet. I don;t care how you do it, just do it. Don't let her out until I get there. I'll give you further instructions then."

"Whatever you say captain," Remus saluted his mate mockingly and walked out.

"Good man, now hurry," Sirius smacked him on the back in a brotherly fashion as he walked by.

When Remus had left, Sirius approached James and sat on the arm of the chair James was sitting in and said, "Prongs, Lily's waiting for you in a broom closet."

Perking up instantly James said, "a broom closet?"

"Definitely, where do you think she was going?"

"I don't know."

"Absolutely, man she was throwing you the look, and what do you think, 'I need some fresh air' is code for? Taking a walk around the grounds?"

By now James was really excited. Sirius noticed so he got up and said, "C'mon I have a feeling I know where she's going, follow me."

While James and Sirius were leaving the common room, Remus was gently pushing Lily down a hallway saying, "Lily, please, it's very important. It means a lot to me. Please come with me."

Lily wasn't stopping Remus, but she was wondering where he was taking her. She was emotionally drained from the night's events as well as the fact that she had just finished taking seven brutal finals. So, she didn't care much, but she was still curious.

Of all the places Lily could possibly think of Remus taking her to, a broom closet was not on her list. She was shoved into the dark closet and left with only two mops and a metal bucket for company.

While Lily gave up on getting out of the closet, seeing as it was obviously blocked by Remus' body, and overturned the bucket for a seat, Sirius and James were being followed by a certain Slytherin who was entirely infatuated with James and had been going to the Gryffindor common room because she had recently bullied the password out of one of the fifth year prefects and was hoping that James was still awake, or better yet, that she could watch him sleep. Ophelia also hoped that she could maybe snag a memento from his room, a sock perhaps, or maybe a quill, possibly even a lock of his unruly black hair; he would never know that it was gone.

She had ducked behind a nearby suit of armor as Lily had come out of her common room. Ophelia glared at Lily's back. Lillian Evans had James Potter in the palm of her hand, and Ophelia was crazily jealous. Ophelia couldn't do anything to get him to notice her, and she so desperately wanted him to just look at her the way he looked at Lily, that she was willing to go to great lengths just to be near him, such as breaking into his dorm room, and stealing his schoolbooks so that he would have to talk to her to get them back.

She was about to approach the portrait of the Fat Lady, when Remus had emerged, closely followed by James and Sirius. Curious, she had followed.

Sirius stopped in front of an empty classroom and as he opened the door and said, "Here Prongs wait in here, I'll go and get Evans. She's right down the hall."

Then he left and James went into the dark classroom. While Sirius' back was turned, Ophelia quietly tip-toed into the dark classroom, and closed the door. Because it was so dark, James assumed that Lily had walked in, so he said, "Lily, about tonight… well I just wanted you to know…"

Ophelia, pretending to be Lily, pulled James into a hug and whispered into his ear, "There's nothing to say that I don't already know, so let's just forget about tonight and start our own party."

James, eager to settle the whole issue and to at last kiss Lily, whom he had noticed was warming up to the idea of them maybe becoming a couple eventually, leaned forward and just as his lips met the Lily imposter's, the real Lily was thrust through the door only to see that unlike what Sirius had told her, James was not waiting patiently to smooth things out between them to avoid tension in their friendship and make up, or out, as Sirius had put it.

Lily brushed past the stunned Sirius and Remus and ran away. Unfortunately for James, Ophelia's had him enveloped in a tight hug-like embrace, so he was unable to escape and run after the girl he liked and was stuck kissing an imposter.

Sirius and Remus were surprised, but Sirius quickly realized that he should go after Lily and try to make the situation better. He gave a nod to Remus, who then went to try to pry James and Ophelia apart. He would have succeeded except for the fact that he underestimated Ophelia's sly and clever potential; she was a Slytherin after all. She closed and locked the door behind Remus with a simple wave of her wand and with another spell had him tied up on the floor.

Meanwhile, Sirius didn't know where to start looking for Lily. He ran down the corridor, but was afraid to call her name because, after all it was only just after four in the morning. Deciding that he would be off using his dog sense of smell, he transformed into his other form, Padfoot the big bear-like dog. As he tried to think about where he would go if he was a girl, Sirius caught a whiff of a human scent and he felt a cool breeze drift towards him from the entrance hall.

Then it came to him, Lily had originally wanted to go get some air. The doors in the entrance hall had obviously just been opened, so she must have gone outside. He returned to his human form and strutted towards the door, feeling very proud of himself for having figured out the mystery and as he gazed out, he saw a thin teen girl seemingly flying over the grounds. She was running so gracefully over the manicured lawns of Hogwarts that Sirius finally understood why James was willing to do anything to get her attention, even behaving. Sirius stood for a moment admiring the fair figure that was sprinting across the grass, and then started to walk down towards her.

As Sirius exited the school, Lily reached her destination on the shore of the lake and sat down on the cool sand.

When Sirius had reached her Lily was sitting back on her heels and as she heard someone approach she said, "James Potter I never want to see you again. You are a rotten, conceited jerk and I don't want to ever be your friend again! So just leave me alone!"

Sirius replied with his easy calm way, "Now if I was James, I might take offense to that."

Lily realized her mistake and turned around, "I thought you were Potter."

"I realized that."

At this point the moonlight from the nearly full moon, reflected onto the lake and illuminated Lily's face, which looked like it was chiseled out of a block of marble. Sirius was amazed at the flawless control that Lily had over her facial features. He could now really see why most of the guys at Hogwarts called her an ice queen behind her back.

He sat down beside Lily and put his arm around her in a friendly way, because he was a friendly guy and enjoyed supporting distraught girls. "You're cold," he remarked simply.

Sirius was starting to feel uncomfortable because Lily was just staring out over the lake as if he wasn't there, so he decided to break the silence by saying, "So, are you as crazy about James as he is about you?"

"He doesn't really like me. And regardless we're just friends. He doesn't like me as anything more than that; after tonight I'm sure of it. How could you think anything different; you were there, you saw him with that blonde."

"Of course he likes you more than a friend!"

"Yeah right. It's so obvious that he likes me from the way that he goes out with everything in a skirt!" said Lily sarcastically. "Everyone except me, of course."

"That's just because he respects you too much," Sirius said, defending his friend.

"No, it's just because he is a womanizing jerk and he knows that that doesn't work with me, so he finally gave it up!"

"Hey! That's my best mate you're talking about, and besides, he's not the womanizing jerk; if anyone is, it's me."

"There's nothing that says that you can't both be womanizing jerks," Lily pointed out.

"Cold, Lily, that was cold."

"As you pointed out only a moment ago; I am cold."

"But I meant it in the literal sense the first time and in ah, the, ah, other sense the next time."

"Figurative? Metaphoric? Analytical? Symbolic? Abstract?"

"Has anyone ever told you that you're a bit too smart?"

"You mean besides you?"

"Yeah."

"Yup, just about everyone, but you know what, I think of it as a compliment."

"Way to be a positive thinker."

Lily laughed and said, "It's better than beating myself up over being smart."

"Too smart for that, eh?"

Lily laughed again and Sirius joined in, their vastly different voices mingling in the early morning air; his deep rolling chuckle and her light tinkling laughter.

Then as their laughter faded away, Sirius turned to Lily and said, "He really does like you Lily and everything will work out I'm sure; everything always works out for James Potter," he added with a hint of bitterness.

"You're a good friend Black, thanks a lot."

"Anytime Evans," said Sirius sincerely.

Lily then took a step that she rarely did, "Call me Lily, my surname doesn't really suit me."

"Works for me, and just to be clear, call me Sirius; there's just too many Blacks out there that I would rather not be associated with."

Little did Sirius know that James was at the top of the stairs to Hogwarts, breathlessly watching the whole exchange between Sirius and Lily. Sirius also couldn't imagine the cold shoulder he was about to receive until he finally set things straight, again.

**A/N. Stay tuned for Chapter 2!**


	2. A Prank Gone Wrong

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Harry Potter or Harry Potter related copyrights.**

James fled from the scene of his best mate and the girl he had set his sights on and was rapidly slipping from his grasp. He wasn't mad as he had previously been, nor was he distraught; he wasn't even jealous. He was just hurt. It hurt that Sirius would steal away his crush. If he couldn't trust his best mate, than whom could he trust?

James took one more look at what appeared to be the 'happy couple' behind him and decided just to go to bed and catch a few hours of sleep before he would have to face Sirius to receive the harsh truth about what was _really_ going on between Sirius and Lily. Was Sirius lying when he said that the kiss with Lily had meant nothing to him?

-----

Sirius was the last one to crawl out of bed the next morning; though really it was afternoon by the time he decided to grace the world with his face.

He meandered down to lunch after a quick shower and sat down next to his friends after he waved to his latest girlfriend, who luckily had not been present at the party the night before.

"Morning," said Sirius as he grabbed a sandwich from the pile.

"It's one o'clock," said Remus grumpily.

"Sorry," said Sirius insincerely. "Good Afternoon."

Remus just rolled his eyes and returned to his book. James didn't comment, but kept on eating his sandwich. Peter looked like he wanted to say something, but couldn't decide which side he wanted to be on; it seemed as if all of his mates were in a bit of a spat.

James finished his sandwich only a minute after Sirius' arrival and promptly left without a word.

"What's eating him this fine morning?" asked Sirius.

"It's the afternoon!" yelled Remus as he shut his book with a slam and stormed out.

"Let's rephrase this, what's eating _them_ this fine morning?" Sirius inquired of the only other Marauder left.

"I dunno; they've been acting like that all day."

"And you have no idea why?"

"Nope, they haven't said three words to me all day."

"Ok," said Sirius. "As long as they get over whatever it is before it's time for us to pull our last prank, I think I've got an idea for our good friend Snivellus…"

Peter grinned. He loved it when he wasn't the victim.

-----

Sirius and Peter were walking back from lunch and James was walking in the opposite direction. James bumped into Sirius rather violently and just continued walking without so much as a word of apology.

"Hey Potter, watch where you're going," Sirius, who had caught the anger bug from his friends, called out to the retreating form that was James Potter.

"I wouldn't waste the brainpower on the likes of you Black," retorted James, as he returned to the scene of the crime to continue what Sirius had verbally instigated.

"What's wrong with you; it's like you're bipolar or a hormonal girl!" shouted Sirius.

"At least I'm not a lying backstabbing coward!"

"What did you just say?" asked Sirius in a dangerous tone.

"What? Couldn't you comprehend that Black? I was just pointing out how closely related you really are to your family. I only just realized how much you share with them besides your last name."

James had done it; he had crossed the line right where he knew it would hurt Sirius most. That was the risk one always took when fighting with his or her best friend; they knew where every weakness was and how best to exploit it.

"You say that as if the Potters were any better! Everyone knows that the only reason you haven't been expelled yet is because Daddy has friends in high places! And of course mummy dearest would do anything to save her little baby boy from trouble!"

Sirius knew how much James idolized his parents and how much it would hurt James to think that they weren't perfect.

"At least my mother cares whether I live or die! Actually, at least my mother doesn't want to murder me with her own two hands! That's more than you can ever say!"

"You know what Potter? Maybe I should have listened to my parents! You Potters are all the same, groveling little brown-nosers with hidden agendas! All you care about is yourselves! The only thing my parents were wrong about was that blood doesn't make you better than others; in your case, it just allows you to use your heritage to influence the Ministry into thinking that you don't believe yourselves to be better while you really do! Then everyone thinks that the people who do place some value on family ties are evil!"

"Black, listen to yourself! Right now people are dying because of people like you and your family!"

"That hasn't been proven! You can't prove anything about those deaths! For all anyone knows they have just been a result of personal differences!"

"So I'm supposed to believe that it's only a coincidence that everyone who is dead is muggle-born?!"

"So what? I say we get rid of the lot of them! Wizards survived for hundreds of years without letting in mudbloods, I don't know why anyone felt the need to change that!"

"So why don't you prove your point and kill your new girlfriend?!" James challenged.

Sirius was thrown off. "What are you babbling about now Potter?"

"I guess I'll have to refresh your memory; Evans is muggle-born!"

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"I don't see how you could be dating someone that you claim you want to eradicate from the wizarding community!"

"I'm not dating Lily," said Sirius in a voice that had returned to its normal volume.

"Sure, Black, whatever you want to tell yourself."

"Is that what you're still going on about? Blimey Potter! You are so thick!"

"What are you saying Black?" asked James with narrowed eyes.

"I thought we already cleared this up! I'm not dating Lily, never have been, never will be and what happened last night means nothing to me!"

"You are such a liar and a sneak! I can't believe that you weren't sorted into Slytherin like the rest of your miserable family! Maybe it's just because you couldn't be cunning if your life depended on it!" said James as he walked away.

"I'm not done with you Potter!"

"Too bad Black, because I am most definitely done listening to your crap!"

"Arggg!" yelled Sirius to the air since Peter had long since run for his life.

"Oh having a lovers' quarrel with Potter are we Black?" came the oily voice of Severus Snape from the shadows of the corridor which was empty of all other life-forms seeing as it was a warm summer day and all of the students were free from exams.

"Oh shove it Snivellus! Don't you have anything better to do than skulk around the hallways?"

"Oh someone is a bit upset," said Snape patronizingly.

"I SAID SHOVE IT SNAPE!" Sirius bellowed.

"Still protecting Potter hmmm? After all that he said to you? What about Pettigrew? He just deserts you at the drop of a hat, so much for Gryffindor bravery. And what about Lupin? Are you going to still defend his mysterious disappearances? It's about time that his mother got sick again, isn't it? Funny how that happens on a monthly basis," smirked Snape.

"What are you on about Snape?"

"So you **are** still keeping his little secrets. Loyalty is such an over-rated quality. So enslaving too; one minute you're as free as a bird, and then the next you have to watch every word you say, every move you make."

"You obviously know nothing about anything Snivellus; I guess that that's what happens when someone doesn't have any friends and no one cares whether they live or die!" said Sirius, who was now grasping at straws to make his insults. No matter how hard he was trying to block out Snape's words, they were hitting home.

"What has Lupin ever done for you? He doesn't bother keeping your secrets, now does he? And Potter obviously has no problem shouting out your insecurities to the world."

Sirius was still being defensive on the outside. "What secrets of mine has Lupin, I mean Remus, spilled?"

"Let's just put it this way Black, how would I know about the Map you four have, if someone hadn't let it slip? Pettigrew is too afraid to slip-up; Potter is far too arrogant not to keep his masterpiece a secret from the world and Lupin is just selfish enough to only think of himself when threatened. All he cares about are his own secrets. All you have to do is imply certain things and he sings like a songbird."

Sirius was beyond enraged. "Well since you're such a good buddy of Potter and Lupin's now, why don't you go visit them tomorrow night? Just go up to the Whomping Willow after dark and press the knot at the base of the tree with a long stick that you'll find in the bushes. Go through the entrance and down the tunnel and you'll find a surprise at the end."

"The Whomping Willow you say? How can I be sure that this isn't just another trick?"

"Do what you want Snape, no one is forcing you to go," said Sirius as he turned on his heel and walked off, not entirely sure what he had just done, but not feeling good about it all the same.

Snape smiled to himself. That hadn't been too hard. Some people were just too easy to exploit.

------

Sirius spent the rest of the day in solitude, except for the part where he broke up with his girlfriend. James also spent the day alone, and Remus kept mostly to himself also. Peter was the only one who really needed to be with people, so he floated between his three friends, leaving each one of them when they finally got fed up with him and moving on to the next. In this manner, he made his rounds for the rest of the day.

The next morning, Remus, feeling the pre-symptoms of the full moon more acutely than he had in recent years, awoke early, and trudged up to the Hospital Wing. Once there he threw himself upon a bed and Madame Pomfrey came bustling over soon after with a sleeping potion. She administered it to him no questions asked and then closed off the curtains around his bed.

Remus then drifted off into a dreamless sleep, pleasantly unaware that one of his best mates had just recently betrayed him.

-----

James had finally, after hours spent alone, realized that he had over-reacted. He knew that Sirius was a good friend and wouldn't betray him by stealing Lily, (not that she was his in the first place). So, when he saw Sirius the next morning in the common room, James apologized, something that he didn't do often.

"Sirius," he called out.

"Oh, it's 'Sirius' now, is it?"

"Look, Sirius, I'm sorry. I blew up at you yesterday for no reason and I'm sorry. I didn't mean all of those things I said, actually I didn't mean any of them at all. Friends again?"

Sirius laughed, "Sure mate. Apology accepted."

James relaxed. "Good, just don't be expecting me to apologize all the time now. That was hard enough."

Sirius clapped James on the back and said, "Of course not, we all have reputations to maintain. How would it look if we all went apologizing to each other for every little thing?"

"Like we were wimpy little girls."

"Exactly! And we can't have that, now can we?"

"Course not! C'mon, breakfast awaits, and we still have some pranking left in us, don't you think? Let's cause some breakfast havoc!"

"You know I'm game!"

The two best friends, newly reunited, hurried back to their dormitory to gather some of the necessary supplies for the mayhem they were bound to create.

James and Sirius were later joined by Peter and spent the day exhausting the rest of their pranking supplies on the unsuspecting inhabitants of Hogwarts. Remus' absence was only briefly mentioned and the subject of Lily was never broached, although they did see her several times. Sirius and James were able to deftly avoid Lily and her friends from extended periods for the whole day and any major arguments that would have occurred, didn't.

Then, as the afternoon wore on, and the boys' pockets had been emptied, they returned inside for dinner and then retreated to their dormitory to plan out their evening adventures for the full moon. They had been accompanying Remus for the past school year, having finally become animagi the summer before. So far, they had only left the shack twice to explore the Forbidden Forest, but they had never ventured out into Hogsmeade.

"I say that we just make some noise in the shack for awhile, you know scare up the people in Hogsmeade a bit. They're all so superstitious, they'll probably all go home early, and then the streets will be empty and we'll be free to roam," said Sirius as he unwrapped a chocolate frog and popped it into his mouth.

James was sitting across from Sirius on his bed. He wrinkled his forehead deep in thought and said, "First though, we'll have to make sure that the coast is clear; we wouldn't want any unexpected surprises."

Then Sirius suddenly remembered his conversation with Snape the day before. He nearly choked on the chocolate frog he had been swallowing in his excitement. "Speaking of unexpected surprises," said Sirius finally, after much coughing and hacking. "You'll never guess who is going to be joining us tonight."

"Who?" asked Peter excitedly. "When?"

"Well, the who is a surprise, but I guess I could clue you in as to the when."

"When?!"

"Don't wet yourself Wormtail," said Sirius derisively. Peter colored and then Sirius looked out of the window. The moon had not yet risen, but the darkness was steadily increasing. It wouldn't be too long now.

"I would say he should be in place in about five or so minutes. I made him an offer that he just couldn't refuse," said Sirius cockily.

James was not as impressed as Peter was. "Who is it Sirius?" he asked sternly.

Sirius, thinking the world of himself, looked at James sharply. "You'll see."

"Damn it Sirius! Who the hell is it?" James may have been immature, but he was wise enough to realize that Sirius had done something stupid.

"Fine! It's Snape! I told him how to get past the Willow and said that there was a surprise for him at the end," said Sirius in an annoyed tone.

"You idiot! Remus is at the end of the tunnel!"

"Yeah, it's going to scare him out of his greasy pants! Speaking of which, we should probably get down there; we don't want to miss this!"

"Sirius, you don't get it! Remus is going to kill him!" yelled James as he ran out of the room to try to intercept Snape before he got to the Willow.

Sirius looked at Peter for support, "Moony wouldn't kill him, would he?"

"I dunno, maybe?"

Sirius paled. What had he gotten himself into?

-----

James ran through the corridors towards the Entrance Hall; he had spotted many people wandering through the hallways, reluctant to go to their beds, but so far he hadn't seen Snape's greasy head.

James didn't see Snape until his worst fears were confirmed, Snape was at the Whomping Willow and he had the long stick that Madame Pomfrey used to open the secret passage when she escorted Remus down to the tree.

"Snape, no!" he yelled.

His call went unheeded, for Snape was already walking underneath the frozen branches of the normally violent tree and soon had disappeared into the hole in its trunk.

James sprinted as fast as he could will his very toned body to go and soon had reached the tree, whose branches had unfortunately returned to their active state. James lit his wand to aid in his furious search for the discarded branch to push the knot with. It was so much easier when Peter could just push the button for them as Wormtail.

Finally James had activated the knot and slipped into the tunnel. Unlike Snape, he had traveled the passage before and knew what to expect, so he was able to run. Unfortunately, his experience was not enough to keep him from tripping on a root that was protruding from the ground. He stumbled and fell, but quickly got up and kept going. James knew the gravity of the situation and that kept his legs running.

Snape was lifting the boards that served as the entrance to the shack when James finally caught sight of him.

"Severus stop! Don't do it! Don't go up there!"

Snape only looked back to sneer at James. "So you're in on the joke too, eh Potter? I suppose the whole fight between you and Black was only staged for some reason or another, but I bet you didn't expect Black to betray Lupin, did you? I'm going to find out once and for all what he really does once a month and you can't stop me!" Severus cried victoriously.

Before James could do anything, Snape waved his wand and tied James up in thick cords. Then he pushed back the boards and climbed into the room above. And then, before his eyes, one of his classmates started turning into a wolfish beast.

On the dirt ground below, James was concentrating solely on getting rid of his bonds. Just as he heard a long howl that meant Remus had finished his transformation and was no longer in control of his body, James' fingers brushed his wand. The little contact was enough to cast a spell to dissolve the cords and James bounded up to the Shrieking Shack.

Luckily for everyone, James got hold of Severus' leg just as Remus spotted him and yanked his enemy into the passage below. Then he levitated the boards firmly back in place, right before Remus reached them.

James let out a deep breath, as he heard the loud scrapping on the boards just inches above his head. Snape was safe, Remus was contained and Sirius was still an idiot.

"Bloody Hell! Lupin's a werewolf! Wait until Dumbledore hears about this! The lot of you will be expelled for sure!" said Severus triumphantly.

"Don't you think Dumbledore already knows?" James said sternly. "Dumbledore is the person who let Remus in; he's not about to expel him now!"

"But he attacked a student, he has no choice! Once the governors hear about this, Lupin will probably be sent to Azkaban!"

"Snape, please, don't do this! You have to have a decent bone in your body somewhere! Please, for once in your life, do the right thing!" James pleaded.

"Just like you and your friends do the right thing? Evans, mudblood though she may be, is right about you; you are an arrogant bully, and now you're finally getting your comeuppance and you just can't deal with it!"

"I'm warning you Snape, if you tell about Remus, I will make your life even more of a nightmare than it already is."

"You're not in a position to be threatening me Potter, for once, I have the upper hand!"

Then Snape disarmed James, blasting him back into the dirt wall and cackled, "And now I'm holding all of the cards!"

Then he ran off down the passage.

James cursed him vehemently and then set off after him. Snape had gotten quite a head start though, so James didn't catch up to him until after they were out on the grounds. Once Severus was in range, James leapt and tackled him to the ground.

James was trying to wrestle his wand out of Severus' hand when Dumbledore arrived and separated them with a simple incantation.

James looked up into the livid face of his Headmaster and was more scared than he had ever been in his entire life. Even Snape's maniac grin had been wiped away once he had looked into the face of Professor Dumbledore.

James couldn't look for long, instead, he gazed down at the ground, his head hanging in shame and fear.

"Come with me, both of you," commanded Dumbledore.

The two boys followed silently in the wake of Dumbledore, chilled by the howls that could be heard coming from the Shrieking Shack.

Dumbledore led the two boys through the halls and all the way into his office. As they entered the office that was all too familiar to James, James saw that it was not empty. In one chair in front of the desk sat Sirius Black, looking more humble and sincere than James had ever seen him.

"Please have a seat," said Professor Dumbledore as he himself took a seat behind his desk.

James sat down next to Sirius, but did not look at him.

Snape was only too glad to take the proffered seat, even if it was next to James Potter. Severus consoled himself with the idea that he would never again have to see James or his friends, not after he told his story.

After a short pause, Albus Dumbledore began to speak, "I have already heard a short version of the events leading up to tonight from Mr. Black, but I should like to hear the story in more detail now. Then I will ask you Mr. Snape to give your side of the story, and then Mr. Potter, if you would, we will finish up with your story."

Sirius recounted his part in the affair slowly and honestly. He didn't leave out anything that incriminated him, as he would have usually done. As hard as it was for him, he told the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

Then Severus proceeded to tell his exaggerated story of the conspiracy that the Marauders had to have him killed. James raised a protest at this, but was silenced with a curt word from Professor Dumbledore. Then Severus continued with suggestions for punishment for the four Gryffindors, even Pettigrew, whom he was positive was involved in some way. The punishment that Severus prescribed was life incarceration in Azkaban for attempted, planned, murder.

Dumbledore then turned to James for his story. James told of the short role that he had played in the whole affair and then pleaded with his Headmaster not to believe Snape about the conspiracy because it wasn't true, and that Remus hadn't willfully had any role at all.

After hearing all three stories, Albus looked sternly as the three boys and began the part that he liked least about his job, lecturing and punishing.

"Mr. Black, I believe that you now realize the severity of what you have done, and I do not believe that you were the mastermind of a premeditated plot against Mr. Snape. You are extremely lucky that Mr. Potter acted quickly enough to prevent any harm from being done. However, these things do not erase your guilt. Therefore, I am afraid that I will have to deduct one hundred fifty points from Gryffindor for your abysmal lack of judgment and misconduct. I will also be referring you to your Head of House for further punishment."

Sirius just hung his head and accepted his fate.

"Mr. Snape, for your foolhardiness in trespassing on grounds that you knew to be forbidden after curfew, I will deduct forty points from Slytherin House and a detention."

"What? Why? Black was the one who told me to!" said Snape.

"Yes, but you had the choice to ignore his taunt or to break the rules by entering the passage below the Whomping Willow. You chose to break the rules, so you will also be punished."

Dumbledore's gaze finally came to rest on James. "Now as for you Mr. Potter," James raised his head to look into the face of Albus Dumbledore and found that there wasn't anger in his eyes, but admiration and relief. "You have done a great service to Mr. Snape by rescuing him from Mr. Lupin."

"He was in on the whole thing!" shouted Snape once he realized that James might not be punished.

"James had nothing to do with any of this!" bellowed Sirius. "The whole thing was my fault! If anything, you owe James your life! He saved your sorry hide!"

"That is enough from both of you," said Dumbledore. The two boys fell silent. "Mr. Potter, you have shown great courage tonight. You put aside your own personal feelings for Mr. Snape and put yourself at risk to save him and to protect your friend. I believe that your actions are worth rewarding."

"But sir, I just did what had to be done," James protested. "It wasn't anything really special or brave."

"I beg to differ Mr. Potter. You were under no obligation to try to save Mr. Snape tonight. Therefore I award Gryffindor house fifty points.

"Now, Mr. Snape, I have one more matter to discuss with you; you must vow to never speak of Mr. Lupin's condition to anyone, not your classmates, family or otherwise. You would do best to just forget this whole matter. If you can not keep this secret, I am afraid immediate expulsion would be the result as well as some formal legal action. Do I have your word?"

"Yes sir," said Severus grudgingly.

"Good, now you and Mr. Potter are excused. Mr. Black I should like for you to remain here, I am going to write a letter to Professor McGonagall explaining the situation and then she will like to have a word with you, I'm sure."

James and Severus left the office and parted without a word.

-----

"Hey, guys, look over there," said Lily interrupting the conversation that the girls around her were having.

"What are you talking about?" drawled Sandra Fini, a Ravenclaw and the leader of the O.W.L. study group which was comprised of talented witches from all four houses. It was a rather exclusive little group that Sandra had started in the beginning of fifth year and the small group had continued into sixth year.

All heads turned towards Lily, but she was used to that. She didn't know why she stayed in the group, she really didn't. Marlene had refused to join saying that she had better things to do than hang out with a bunch of eggheads and talk about homework, and Alice had quit in the beginning of sixth year, saying that it ate up too much of her time. Yet, Lily had continued in the group, even though she knew that she wasn't well liked; she was however, needed. Lily was the brightest witch in both Charms and Potions, so she was able to help the others with their homework and with studying.

Her talents also made her a threat, practically the only threat to Sandra. Ever since first year, Sandra and Lily had been tied for the title of first in their class. Thus, Sandra did her best to make things miserable for Lily, and since Ravenclaws were the majority in the Outstanding Witch League, she succeeded more often than not.

"Sirius Black is sitting by himself by that tree, James Potter is over by that tree twenty meters away and Peter Pettigrew is sitting under a third tree, each of them alone and Remus Lupin is nowhere to be found. Don't you find that strange?" asked Lily as her eyes wandered from one Marauder to the next.

"So? Since when do you care what the Marauders do? I thought we were all in agreement here that they are immature people with whom we should not be associated?" Sandra addressed the group, who murmured their assent.

Lily didn't hear it and she didn't care. All she cared about was that when she had been upset Sirius had talked to her and helped her through it, and now he was obviously troubled and for some reason he and his friends were at odds. So, she stood up and, leaving the group and their protests at her rudeness behind, Lily walked over to the tree which Sirius was sitting under.

Sirius was just staring out at the lake. McGongall had been furious. She had given him detention every Friday night for the duration of his seventh year and written to the Potters, knowing that writing to his biological parents would have no effect on him whatsoever. The destruction of half his social life was not what had Sirius so down though; normally he would have had a good laugh over McGonagall's fury and tallied up the detentions to see what the grand total was. But those things are generally done with friends, and right now, Sirius didn't appear to have any. That was the worse part about the whole thing.

"Mind if I sit here?" asked Lily.

Sirius looked up in surprise as the sound of Lily's voice brought him out of his reverie of self-pity. His face even broke out in a shadow of a grin. "Not at all."

Lily didn't know quite what to say to Sirius, and he didn't initiate a conversation. But finally, Lily got fed up with the silence so she said, "Sirius, I know that we haven't really ever talked or anything, and we couldn't quite be called friends, but you look as if you need a friend right now, so do you want to talk?"

Sirius looked at Lily, the surprise visible on his face. He looked at her for a long time, it was a long calculating look that caused Lily to feel very stupid and very little.

She was just about to get up and leave when Sirius said, "You sure are something Lillian Evans."

"I know," she said with a sure smile.

And then Sirius poured out his soul for Lily, well what he could anyways. He didn't reveal that Remus was a werewolf and Lily didn't pry. Sirius just kind of glossed over the details of the previous night's events, though he didn't fail to highlight James' heroism as Snape's savior.

Lily stayed silent throughout Sirius' monologue. Then when he was finished she said, "Feel better now?"

He grinned, a real grin this time. "Yeah, yeah I do. Now I see why you girls do this whole 'talking' thing so often."

"That 'talking thing' is why women live longer than men," Lily stated. "We just let our emotions out, while you men just keep them bottled inside to preserve your manly façade."

"I don't know about the men that you know, but I must say that this is no façade, I am 100 macho male," joked Sirius, which elicited a laugh from Lily. "Why are you laughing? I wasn't kidding! Lily you're hurting my feelings!" he fake-whined.

"Oh shut up you," she retorted.

"And furthermore," Sirius continued. "Your little lover boy Potter doesn't keep his anger and emotions bottled up, and I have the bruises to prove it."

Lily stopped laughing sharply at the mention of James. "What do you mean?"

Sirius cursed under his breath and then said, "Nothing, nothing. Just rambling."

"You meant what you said, now tell me what it means," Lily commanded.

Sirius clenched his fists in frustration. This was not going to be a pleasant conversation. Why was he continually getting himself into hot water? "Okay, I did mean something by it. After the party Friday night or Saturday morning, if you want to be technical about it, James was a wee bit irate and wasn't afraid to let me know it, via his fists."

"I'm sorry," Lily muttered.

Sirius started to tell her that it wasn't her fault, but she cut him off by saying, "It _was_ my fault, I know it was and I want you to know that I'm sorry. I let myself get carried away and I should not have. I wish that I could just take it all back."

"I wouldn't change anything," said Sirius softly. "It was a fabulous kiss, but I didn't feel anything."

"Me neither," Lily admitted.

"It's probably for the best," said Sirius back to his shadow-like grin. "If James was ready to attack me for kissing you when we were on good terms, I can't imagine what he would do if he found us together now that he hates me."

Lily fell silent until, almost out of the blue, she blurted, "We can still be friends though, right?"

"Sure."

"Good. I like talking to you."

"Me too Lily."

"Do you think Remus could use a visitor?"

"What, leaving me so soon?"

Lily smiled and said, "As much as you needed someone to talk to, I think he needs someone more. Especially since you have to tell him what happened last night. How about I'll just see him first and prepare him a bit."

"You are an angel Lily," said Sirius as she got up.

"I know," she said with a secretive little smile, as Sirius got up also to follow her to the Hospital Wing.

This wasn't going to be pleasant for anyone, but having Lily there was going to make it a bit easier.

-----

Remus awoke to the sounds of two people arguing quietly somewhere near him. His brain tuned out the sounds around him and started to process the important facts. Remus concluded that the night before had been the full moon, and a pretty gruesome night from the way he felt right now, and that he was now in the Hospital Wing.

After he was oriented, Remus looked over at the clock that was sitting on his bedside table. It told him that it was just after three in the afternoon.

Remus tried to fall back asleep, but he soon found that he couldn't, so he resorted to just staring up at the ceiling and looking at all of the familiar cracks and stains. He knew that Madame Pomfrey would be along soon to bring some messages and stories of how his friends had tried to sneak in to see him as well as the usual foul-tasting potions.

Remus felt a little bit guilty when he thought of his friends; he had been a bit bitter towards them the last couple of days. Then, the more that he thought about it, Remus realized that he had the right to be bitter. James and Sirius had left in the middle of the night to go to a party without him, and then when they returned, Sirius expected him to help out to fix the huge problems that they had caused at said party.

Remus had helped, of course; he _always_ helped everyone with everything, and did they ever say thank you? Nope. They just took him for granted and expected him to help them with everything no matter what.

And did they come by to see how he was feeling yesterday? Nope. They just ignored him and went on with their lives while he was suffering.

Remus' anger that had been mustering for the past couple days was quickly bubbling up to the surface, but that was interrupted when the curtains surrounding his bed were pulled back slowly. Remus quickly closed his eyes because he didn't want to see his friends right now; he wanted to build up some more anger against them first.

"See Miss Evans! I told you that he was still resting!" said Madame Pomfrey in a shrilly high pitched whisper that was surprisingly loud.

"I'll just wait for him to get up then," said Lily in a much quieter voice.

Lily was left by Madame Pomfrey after she promised not to disturb Remus. She closed the curtains after her and pulled up a chair next to his bedside.

"That's pretty impressive, how you fooled Madame Pomfrey like that," said Lily casually.

"How could you tell I was faking?" asked Remus croakily without opening his eyes.

"I saw your eyelids fluttering closed before you knew I was there."

"How'd you know I was here?"

"A little bird told me," joked Lily.

Remus didn't laugh; he didn't think it was funny. No one was supposed to know he was in the Hospital Wing; he was supposed to be visiting his grandmother.

"Really, who told you?"

"A friend of yours who will remain nameless."

"The only ones who would know I was here would be Sirius, James and Peter. Peter is deathly afraid of you and your temper since that day last year when you blew up at James, Sirius is kind of, afraid, I guess you could say, of being around you because then James would be jealous, so I suppose it was James, because he would probably tell you anything if you asked properly," Remus hypothesized.

"Intriguing Dr. Lupin, very intriguing, but sadly, you are mistaken," said Lily before she could stop herself.

"So it was either Sirius or Peter, and after the events of two days ago, I wouldn't think it was Sirius, but perhaps it is."

"Maybe," said Lily unconvincingly.

"Okay, it was Sirius," said Remus matter-of-factly.

"Not necessarily…"

"You sound just like James when he knows that you know whatever secret he was keeping but he doesn't want you to think you know although you really do."

"Sorry, I couldn't follow that."

"Ummmhhmmmnn… so, why are you here?"

When Lily didn't answer, Remus finally opened his eyes and looked over at her; she was gazing intently at all of his bandages.

"Are you going to ask where I got all of these?"

"No. If you wanted me to know, you would tell me, but if I ask and you don't want to talk about it, you'll just lie about it, and I'd rather not do that."

"Aren't you curious?" asked Remus disbelievingly. "Don't you care?"

"Do you want to tell me?" asked Lily calmly.

Remus considered it for a moment. "I think it would be best if you don't know."

"Then I'll keep my curiosity at bay and just let you know that I do care, but I can't really do anything about it because I don't know how you got these wounds."

"So why are you here?" Remus repeated.

"Because you're going to need someone to talk to."

"Going to?" he asked inquisitively.

Lily took a deep breath and slowly exhaled. This was harder than she thought, but she continued because she knew it was the right thing to do and she wanted to minimize the hurt that she knew Remus was going to feel.

"Yeah, something happened last night that you need to know about and I want to be there for you when you need to talk about it."

"What do you know?" asked Remus angrily.

Lily was taken aback. "Nothing specific, only vague details," she said downheartedly.

"Who told you?" hissed Remus.

This was not going the right way. "Remus, please calm down. I'm not going to talk to you if you're about to rip my head off," said Lily sternly.

Remus took a deep breath and counted to ten; then he apologized.

"Don't apologize Remus, I would be pretty upset if I felt as crummy as you probably do right now."

After a brief pause, Lily said, "Remus, you have another visitor and he has something to tell you, but before you see him, let me just tell you that he's sorry."

"Not a very auspicious start to any conversation," Remus pointed out.

"Just remember that, okay?"

"Okay, I'll keep it in mind" said Remus uncertainly.

"I'll be back to see if you want to talk later, okay?"

"Sure."

Then Lily left. Remus heard her mumble a few words to whoever was standing on the other side of the curtain. After a few minutes of mumbling, Sirius Black was pushed through the curtains.

He looked a bit startled, but he quickly changed his features to a pleasant smile. "Hey-ya Moony, you look like crap," said Sirius nervously.

"What are you doing here?" asked Remus bitterly.

"I thought Lily told you…"

"Sirius," said Remus darkly. "What happened last night?"

Sirius sat down and then, not being able to meet Remus' eyes, he stared at the floor and began his story. "I'm really, really, really sorry mate, and I don't deserve to ever be happy again."

Remus was untouched by the sob story.

"In fact I really don't even deserve to breathe…"

"Get on with it," Remus cut in sharply.

"Right," said Sirius. So much for his avoidance maneuvers. "I tricked Snape into going to the Whomping Willow. I told him how to get past it a couple of nights ago and when to go, so of course he did. He, he saw you transform."

Remus went white, white like the color of the pillow he was resting his head on. "Did I, did I…?" Remus' voice was virtually gone; his throat was suddenly parched and he couldn't get the words out.

"No. No, you didn't hurt him at all. James found out and went and saved the slimy git. Dumbledore says he's going to come see you when Poppy says it's okay."

"Get out," said Remus curtly.

"What?"

"Get the out!" yelled Remus.

Sirius quickly evacuated his seat and scampered away.

Remus covered his face with his heavily bandaged hands.

Lily sat outside of the Hospital Wing to give the two boys some privacy. Sirius came out much faster than she had expected.

"How bad was it?" she asked him.

Sirius sat down on the bench next to her and mumbled, "I don't think it could've gone any worse."

"You didn't expect it to go well, did you?"

"No."

"I'm going to give him a half-hour and then I'm going to talk to him."

"Blimey Lily, are you trying to get yourself a chocolate frog card or something?"

"What?" asked Lily baffled.

"How come you're being so nice to everyone?"

"Because I'm a nice person?"

"No one is _this_ nice. Do you owe me money or something?" asked Sirius disbelievingly.

"No," answered Lily. "I just like helping people, that's all."

"But why? Why would you get yourself involved in something like this? What do you get out of it?" he questioned.

"What's with the third degree?" Lily counter-asked. "You listened to me and my problems the other night, so I listened to yours; it's what friends do."

"Are we friends now?"

"I suppose we are."

"Good. I think that brings my total friend count up to one now."

"That's not true Sirius, you have lots of friends."

"Not really," said Sirius, trying to sound casual about it. "I really only have three, not counting you of course, James, Remus and Peter, the rest are just admirers and fans. And now, my three friends hate me, so you're the only one left. Speaking of which, why don't you hate me?"

"You made a mistake," said Lily shrugging. "People make mistakes; that's what makes them human."

"You don't make mistakes," said Sirius. "You're little Miss Perfect."

Lily laughed harshly. "Believe me, I make more mistakes than you'll ever know, and not all of them are as easily forgiven as the one you recently made."

Sirius stared at her in disbelief. "You must be joking."

Lily looked back at him. "No, I'm not."

"Name one," challenged Sirius.

Lily shook her head in denial.

"Why not?"

"Because you'd never look at me the same way again."

"I sincerely doubt that."

Lily smiled grimly, "It's true; if you didn't think I was a goody-goody you wouldn't look at me the same way. Just trust me; I'm not perfect, in any sense of the word." Then, before Sirius could get in another word, Lily got up and said, "I'm going to go see Remus now, I'll see you later."

Sirius nodded. He didn't get up on the bench for a long time; he was wondering about the enigma that was Lillian Evans.

-----

The rest of the week flew by; grades were handed out, trunks were packed and everywhere students and teachers alike were eagerly awaiting summer vacation.

Well, almost everyone was looking forward to the break. One Sirius Black was not. He hadn't spoken to Remus, Peter or James since the prank on Snape, but he could tell that they all were still mad at him. Remus and James pretended like he didn't exist and Peter just kind of gave him twitchy, nervous smiles.

If it wasn't for Lily, Sirius probably would have gone crazy; he was a people person and couldn't take too much alone time. So, in a way, she saved him from himself. Lily always made sure that Sirius didn't spend too much time alone and that he had someone to talk to if he needed it. She also incorporated him into her activities with Marly and Alice and he got to know them better too.

Remus had chosen to spend the last few days of the last week of school absorbed in his books. Although he was spending time with James and Peter, none of them actually talked or planned any pranks or anything. They all just kind of sat there, each distracted in his own fashion.

Periodically Lily would catch Remus alone and try to get him to talk to her. She would usually spend about an hour or so making small talk with him to get his mind off of the betrayal of Sirius. He appreciated her attempts, but he was wary to get too close to her, for fear that she would somehow be able to guess what he really was, now that she had so many clues to her advantage.

That first time when she had visited him in the Hospital Wing, he had not-so-kindly pushed her away and refused to talk to her. However, she refused to honor his request that he be left alone. That was one of the things Remus liked most about Lily; she persevered. Lillian Evans never did anything half-way. She always did everything to the best of her ability; including comforting friends.

But there was one person who was not thanking his lucky stars that Lily Evans had been born; in fact she was driving him even more insane than usual. James Potter looked on as Lily spent some, well, a lot, of quality bonding time with two of his best friends, well, one friend, and one person who didn't exist anymore but was once his best mate. He didn't mean to let her get to him; he really didn't, but she was Lillian Evans and he was defenseless against her magic. He hated seeing her just talking to them; she appeared to be trying so hard to make them happy and made such an effort just to be around them and include them. James was more than jealous, he felt as if something was trying to eat its way out of his stomach, and so his relationship with everyone suffered; he refused to talk to Remus extensively, ignored Sirius completely, and barely glanced at Lily, when she was looking that is.

When James finally did talk to Lily, not by his own devise but by some evil force inside of him (some call it their heart), it was not pretty. James had been walking down the hallway, by himself, as Hogwarts had grown accustomed to seeing him over the last couple of days. At the same time Lily was walking in the opposite direction, but she was not alone, she was walking with the O.W.L.s; they had just finished setting out their goals for summer studying. It was the last day of school and James figured that something inside of him just snapped and caused him to do what he did.

"Hey Evans," he called after she and the other girls had passed him.

The whole group stopped. Lily turned around, her face expressionless. "What's up?" she asked him fairly amicably.

"We need to set some things straight," he said demandingly.

"She's not going anywhere with you" said Sandra snidely.

James looked at her incredulously. "Who do you think you are and why are you talking for Evans?"

Sandra was opening her mouth, but Lily cut in and said in a sickly-sweet voice that usually went over pretty well with Sandra, "It's okay Sandra, I think I can handle this on my own."

Sandra pulled Lily aside a bit and whispered harshly, "Lily, he's a _marauder_. It's bad enough that you've been spending time with Lupin and Black, and don't bother denying it because I know you have been, but why do you feel the need to round off the group by talking to Potter?"

"Really Sandra, I can handle this. This shouldn't take long; we don't have much to say to each other."

"Every second makes us look bad Lily! In my opinion, James is the worst of the three of them!"

"There are four of them," Lily pointed out.

"Pettigrew hardly counts," scoffed Sandra. "He can't even cast a levitating charm on a feather without Lupin holding his hand, Black distracting him and Potter secretly doing the spell."

Lily just nodded annoyed by Sandra's condescending tone. "I'll owl you guys this summer okay? Have a great vacation."

Without waiting for a response, Lily waved to the others and walked over to James.

"Yes?" she asked.

James started walking away; Lily followed. Silence reigned for a while as the two walked side-by-side, until James broke the silence. "What was that all about? With you and Sandra?"

Lily bit down on her bottom lip. "Nothing. It was nothing," she said finally.

"If it were nothing," James began. "You would have said so immediately, or with at least more conviction. How am I supposed to believe you when you don't even believe you."

"Maybe I work just a bit differently and like to think before I say stuff," said Lily hotly.

"So all of these years what you've said to me has been well-thought out and genuinely sincere?" James stopped walking and turned to her.

Lily bit down harder. Why did he have to ask her that? It was the day before summer break and she was more than content to just let things between them stay as they were, friendly-ish and totally confusing.

James didn't know what to think, and Lily's silence wasn't helping. "Tell me Lily! I need to know."

"Why? Why do you need to know?" she asked sharply. "What does it matter? That's in the past."

"But it may affect the future," said James softly. "Our future."

"What future James? _I _have a future and _you_, you have a future, but I'm not so sure that I see our futures mixing."

"Why not? I've changed Lily! I have; I changed for you."

"You shouldn't have changed for me James; you should have changed for you. You are always going to be in your life, but I may not be," said Lily slowly as she gazed at the floor.

"Why do you enjoy tormenting me? What have I ever done to you? All you do is lie to me, reject me and put me down. Does anything ever make you happy? Is anyone ever going to be enough for you?"

Lily didn't say anything; she just kept staring at the floor. She refused to look James in the eye; she was afraid of what she might find there.

James decided to continue, "You know what I think Lily?"

Lily shook her head.

"I think that you're just too damn stuck-up to condescend to the level ordinary people are on. You just think that you're so much better than everyone else, so of course you're looking for someone equal to you. But of course, no one is! No one can ever be as perfect as you want them to be Lily. No one is ever going to meet the bar that you've set. I tried; Merlin knows I tried to be the person you wanted me to be, but I'm tried of trying to please you. I'm done Lily. I'm done."

Lily finally looked up, though she didn't meet his eyes. She looked at the wall behind him, his hair, his glasses, anything but his eyes. "I never asked you to be someone you're not. I never asked you to try to please me."

"But I did anyways."

"For whom James? For me, or for you?"

"What? That doesn't make any sense."

"Why do you pursue me? Because you want to, or because I want you to?"

James regained a bit of his arrogance at this point, "I'd like to think both."

Lily looked at him incredulously, finally meeting his eyes. "If you can't answer that, then I don't think that there's anything for either of us here."

"So that's it then?"

"'It' was never anything in the first place."

"Stop playing games with me!"

"Who's playing?"

"Can you honestly tell me that you've never felt anything for me ever?"

James' eyes were so hopeful and so capable of pain. Lily still didn't know what exactly she was feeling for James, and she couldn't come up with a lie quick enough, or convincing enough to get by James, so she told him the truth.

"I don't know James."

"What kind of answer is that?"

"The only one I have for you, unless, of course, you'd prefer me to lie to you; in which case, I'll tell you whatever you want me to say."

"Can't you just give me a solid answer?"

"I don't have one!" Lily yelled. "If I did; we wouldn't be in this mess!"

"So what do you expect me to do? Waste another year of my life waiting for you to warm up to me while you flirt with all of my friends?" he asked, his brow furrowed.

"No. Do whatever you want. Summer vacation starts tomorrow, enjoy it. Don't think of me at all this summer, just enjoy yourself," said Lily choosing to ignore the comment about her "flirting."

"I don't think you understand Lily," said James as he laughed joylessly.

Lily held up a hand. "I don't want to understand, James. In fact, I'd rather not."

"Then what do you want?"

"I want for you to forget all about me this summer."

"Just this summer?" James inquired with a smile that didn't meet the contortion of his brow.

Lily didn't smile; she just swallowed hard. "Just do it. Find some hot girls in bikinis and snog them senseless."

"Just how shallow do you think I am?"

"You're only human James; you succumb to weakness just like every other man. Believe me, there will be only too many girls that will want to fall at your feet."

"Only you Lily, only you would find some new way to torture me just when I'd thought that I have suffered enough."

"Stop mocking me!" yelled Lily in frustration. "I'm not trying to torment you, not now and I never have been! I'm doing this _for_ you! You need to get over me James."

"What if I don't want to?"

"You can't mean that you want to be like this?"

"No I don't. I want to be with you Lily; to be in a relationship with you."

Lily let out a deep breath. "Look at me James and listen clearly. Forget this and forget me."

Then Lily turned on her heel and walked away, her heels clicking loudly on the stone floor.

"Lily, wait! This is not how it should be!" James called fruitlessly after her.

Lily didn't stop. She didn't turn around. She didn't respond. She didn't stop the tears from rolling down her face. She just kept walking. She kept walking and she kept thinking, _this is not how it should be, but it's how it has to be. I'm so sorry James._.

**A/N. Please review guys or I will seriously reconsider continuing with this story!**


	3. An Unexpected Invitation

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Harry Potter or Harry Potter related copyrights.**

Chapter Three: An Unexpected Invitation

"Why the glum look Sirius?" asked Lily as they sped through the English countryside towards London on Hogwarts Express. "Besides the obvious reasons of course," she quickly added as he gave her a patronizing look.

"Nothing," he mumbled as he again turned his gaze to the trees speeding by.

"It's not nothing, talk to me," Lily commanded.

Sirius had soon found that Lily didn't take 'nothing' for an answer, nor did she allow anyone to be alone while they were angry or upset or troubled. She would just stay there no matter how many times you told her in no uncertain terms to 'sod off.' She didn't take offense and she didn't listen, so eventually you poured out your soul to her; that was just the kind of person Lillian Evans was.

Sirius sighed and turned to Lily, he really didn't want to unload his troubles on her; she seemed to have enough of her own. Sirius didn't know the particulars, but he did know that she and James had had a confrontation and it didn't go quite well. "It's just that, well it's, you know, it's kind of," said Sirius bumbling over his words. He didn't want to make Lily think he was asking for any favors and he certainly didn't want her to take pity on him.

Lily just sat there patiently waiting for him to finish. Marly and Alice had left just a few minutes ago in search of the trolley lady, so she had no one else to entertain; Sirius had her undivided attention.

"Well," he said finally with another deep sigh. "I guess that it's just the fact that I don't know where I'm going to stay for the summer."

Lily nodded thoughtfully, so Sirius continued, "I obviously can't go home, or I would be killed. I can't exactly go to the Potters' either because James just might kill me for you know what, and if I stay on the street some hobo will probably kill me. So, it looks like this summer's agenda is getting killed. I just don't know which way I prefer, getting killed by my family, my best friend, or some stranger on the streets."

Lily laughed a bit at Sirius' dramatic antics.

"Lily how could you laugh at a time like this?" asked Sirius scandalized. "Here I am trying to decide who should get the privilege of murdering me, and you are laughing! Why I never!"

Lily laughed harder and then apologized, "Sorry Sirius. How about I give you a fourth option?"

Sirius looked at her curiously, "Does it involve my death?"

"No, but it does jeopardize your sanity," she responded.

"Don't worry love, there isn't much left to jeopardize," joked Sirius.

"Well, you could stay for the summer at my house if you aren't worried about losing your mind," Lily offered.

"Oh Lily I couldn't ask you to do that," said Sirius at once sobering up.

"You didn't, I offered."

"But," began Sirius.

"No but's," Lily cut in. "You can stay at my house for the summer."

"Won't your parents mind?"

"Mother won't care, and dad will be thrilled. He loves everything magical," she laughed. "Sometimes I find him poking around in my school books even though he has no clue what's going on."

"So you're sure about this?"

"Of course, it will be fun! Just I think I should warn you, both of my sisters are still at home and they are on vacation as well. The three of us can be a lot to handle, especially if you don't have any sisters of your own. Think you're up to the task?"

"Ah you know me Lily, I'm such a lady's man!"

"I didn't say anything about there being any 'ladies' in my house. We're all quite witchy most of the time."

"I'll make do."

"Good luck Mr. Black."

"I don't think I'll need it Miss Evans."

Lily smiled broadly, "We'll see, we'll see."

Sirius' spirits were uplifted and by the time Marlene and Alice returned he was back to his usual joking self.

The rest of the journey flew by for Sirius and his compartment-mates, Marly, Alice and Lily. Before they knew it, Sirius and Lily had bid good-bye to Alice and Marlene and Lily was searching the crowd on the platform to find her sister; Daisy had promised that she would be there to greet Lily on her arrival. Within a few minutes Lily spotted Daisy's curly blonde hair among the throng of people bustling about.

"Daisy!" yelled Lily as she waved energetically while Sirius winced at having been in close proximity to Lily's shouting. "Sorry Sirius," said Lily off-handedly as her sister, having heard her name, spotted Lily and Sirius.

Daisy, a cute girl of thirteen came bounding over to her older sister immediately and was soon enveloped in a huge hug.

"Lily! I'm so glad that you're home! The house has been so lonely without you! Petty has been driving me nuts! She keeps trying to play with my hair and do my make-up!" said Daisy breathlessly as Lily released her.

Lily laughed and said, "I'm glad to be home too. Let's get this stuff to the car; I assume Martin is driving?"

"Yup," said Daisy with a huge smile.

"Come on Sirius," said Lily as she grabbed her luggage.

"He's coming with us?" asked Daisy.

"Yeah, oh sorry Dase," said Lily. "This is Sirius Black; he's going to stay with us this summer. Sirius, this is my little sister Daisy."

"Hi," said Sirius, speaking for the first time.

Daisy bit down on her bottom lip and frowned, "I know who you are!" she exclaimed.

"You do?" asked Sirius confused.

"Yeah, you're one of those Marauders that Lily always talks about!"

Sirius looked at Lily with a curious look; Lily avoided his glance by glaring at her sister.

"Come on, let's go; we have a long drive home," said Lily.

Daisy giggled at Lily's abrupt change of conversation, but didn't say anything.

Lily started wheeling her trolley towards the barrier; Sirius and Daisy followed behind closely.

"So are you dating my sister or something?" Daisy asked Sirius inquisitively.

"No," said Sirius with a booming laugh which caused Lily to turn around and wait for them to catch up.

"Come on you slowpokes," said Lily loudly.

"We're coming!" answered Daisy.

Without any further conversation, the small group of three made it through the barrier and into the muggle parking lot where Martin, the driver of the Evans family, was waiting to drive them home.

Sirius and Lily sat on one side of the small limousine and Daisy sat across from them.

"How was your term?" asked Daisy.

Lily sighed, "It was really long and we had a lot of work."

"It was really great! I pulled off a ton of pranks and we won the House Cup and the Quidditch Cup!" said Sirius excitedly.

"What's Quidditch?" When she saw Sirius' shocked face she added, "Maybe you can tell me Sirius, Lily has tried to explain it to me, but she's really bad at it."

Lily stuck her tongue out at her sister immaturely.

Sirius immediately delved into the finer points of Quidditch as well as a broad overview of the sport.

"So tell me about some of your pranks Sirius, all Lily ever talks about it how annoying James Potter is," said Daisy while smiling at her sister who had fallen asleep around the point where Sirius was explaining the most common fouls of Quidditch.

"First, tell me, what does Lily say about James?" he asked with a mysterious grin on his face as he too looked over at Lily.

Daisy, who was very fond of mischief herself, lost no time in answering, "She says that he's really attractive, but much too immature for her liking. Though lately in her letters, she says that she kind of likes him and would date him, but…"

"But what?" asked Sirius a little too loudly.

Lily twitched in her sleep, but didn't wake up.

After making sure that Lily was really asleep still, Sirius asked again, "Why won't Lily go out with James?"

Daisy bit her lip and decided she couldn't tell him. "You'll have to ask Lily exactly why; she's really secretive about that part of her life. She doesn't talk much about her social life; she seems to hate it really."

"But she talks about James?" Sirius asked. Even if his friend was really enraged at him right now, Sirius knew that one day they would be friends again and perhaps information on how to win Lily's heart would help with their reconciliation.

"Yeah, she complains about him mostly."

"But at least she notices him; he was starting to think that his actions were unnoticed."

"Why are you here?" asked Daisy abruptly changing the subject without any warning at all.

"Umm… your sister invited me?"

"Yeah I know that, but why aren't you with James or Remus or Peter?"

"Wow, you know all about my friends don't you?" said Sirius trying to change the subject.

"Yes, Lily keeps me well-informed about your antics, which I would love to here about in great detail later. But now, again, why aren't you with them? As far as I knew, Lily wasn't even on friendly terms with you."

"Well my friends and I had a huge fight and now they are basically lusting after my blood. Lily kind of found out and is the only one who is really talking to me now. It was either come here or risk being killed by some random hobo," joked Sirius.

Daisy laughed, "I would have taken my chances with the hobo."

"Lily said something similar. I'm starting to think that I was better off with a cardboard box in a dark alley."

Daisy laughed again, "At least you've been warned. The last couple of guys Petunia has brought home have gone nuts. That may have been due to a few pranks from Lily and me though," she added thoughtfully.

"Lily Evans pulling pranks?!" snorted Sirius. "That's inconceivable! If I had a knut for every time she yelled at James and I for being stupid and immature for pulling pranks I would be able to afford a solid gold cardboard box!"

"How can a box be solid gold and cardboard?" asked Lily tiredly with her eyes still closed.

Sirius was a little surprised, he had been sure that Lily was asleep.

Lily interpreted Sirius' silence well, "If you wanted to talk about me without my hearing it, I would recommend doing it when I am not within two feet of you," she said coolly while stretching.

"Have a nice nap?" asked Daisy.

"Yeah, about how much longer do we have to go?"

Daisy looked out of one of the windows and read a sign on the highway. "About another two hours I should think."

"Driving takes forever!" Sirius complained.

Lily murmured her agreement.

"Can you apparate now Lily?" asked Daisy.

"Officially not until I take my test next week at the Ministry, but I have done it in practice."

"What about you Sirius?"

"Nope. I can't take my test until the end of the summer; my birthday is in August," said Sirius as he stretched out and put his hands behind his head.

"Is it fun?" asked Daisy inquisitively.

Lily smiled indulgently. "I'll take you with me some time if you want, after I get my license of course."

Daisy squealed. "Really! That would be so great! I've never traveled in a magic way before!"

"What about by broom?" inquired Sirius.

"Nope, Lily doesn't have a broom," said Daisy.

"And I can't ride one to save my life," added Lily.

"I will have to take you on a ride on mine then," Sirius offered.

Daisy's eyes got really wide. "Oh my gosh! That would be so amazing! Thank you!"

Sirius chuckled. "No problem kid. It would be my pleasure to fill in where dear Lily so lacks."

"Oh shut it," said Lily as she swiped him jokingly.

"So how did you do on your finals?" asked Daisy.

"I did well enough," said Lily modestly.

"Which really means that she got all O's," said Sirius in a teasing tone.

Lily firmly stated, "I did not! I got an E in transfiguration and in Ancient Runes."

"But you got over a one hundred on your Charms practical and you got the highest score on record in Potions," said Sirius knowingly.

Lily gaped at him, "How did you know that?"

"I have my sources," said Sirius cryptically.

Lily gave him a look that clearly said she wanted the names of his informant.

Sirius decided to divulge the source of his information, "I overheard Flitwick and McGonagall talking after the results were given out and Slughorn told me at one of those odious parties of his right a few days ago. I swear Lily you had better watch out; he probably has a shrine to you erected in his office," said Sirius with a serious face.

Daisy and Lily burst out laughing and Sirius soon joined in. "The funniest part is that I'm not joking," said Sirius in the middle of his laughing.

Daisy then wistfully said, "I wish I went to Hogwarts; it sounds like such fun."

"It's a lot of work though too," said Lily.

"Only if you're Lily Evans," Sirius commented. "The rest of us all just slide by. Personally I do my assignments during class or five minutes before they're due."

"Or make up a far-fetched excuse for not having done it," Lily retorted.

"Like what?" asked Daisy eager for some ideas.

"Well…" Sirius started.

"No! I will not have you corrupting my little sister!" said Lily sternly.

"Come on Lily," Daisy whined. "It's not like I would ever use them or anything."

Sirius said, "She couldn't use most of them anyways as they usually include something about the giant squid or evil Cornish pixies."

Lily rolled her eyes. "Fine, just don't let me hear about you slacking off at school."

"Yes mum," said Daisy with an eye-roll of her own.

"Where do you go to school Daisy?" asked Sirius.

"A boarding school in Southern England," she replied.

"Don't be modest Daisy," Lily said. She turned to Sirius and elaborated, "Daisy goes to a school for prodigies in the arts, really good musicians, artists and actors go there. Daisy was the youngest to be accepted in several years."

"And what do you do Daisy?" asked Sirius warmly.

"I'm an artist," said Daisy meekly. She did not enjoy talking about her abilities.

"Can I see some of the work you've done?"

"Yeah, I guess so," she said as she excitedly grabbed a sketch pad that was lying on the seat next to her. "I just did these on the way down; they aren't really good."

Sirius just smiled as he accepted the book from her. Lily scooted over to him and they both took a look at the pencil sketches of the young teenager. Sirius and Lily both praised Daisy's work extensively and offered some good constructive criticism.

Daisy took back her pad with a huge smile adorning her petite features. "Sirius," she said cautiously. "Would you mind if I did a couple of sketches of you? You have really great bone structure and nice eyes."

Sirius chuckled softly at the compliment from the younger girl. "I would love to be in your sketch book Miss Artist. It's my honor."

Lily looked on fondly as Daisy told Sirius how to position himself and laughed to herself as she saw him obeying the thirteen-year-old's every command.

As Daisy happily sketched away, Lily and Sirius chatted about their past school years and the teachers they had had.

Eventually they arrived at the Evans Estate. Sirius gulped nervously as the car drove up the winding driveway. He had passed the inspection of the youngest Evans, but he was sure that Daisy was the least of his worries. Lily saw his expression of anxiety and smiled at him reassuringly as if to say 'it'll be okay.' Sirius did his best to smile back at her.

All too soon, the car had stopped and the door was opened. Daisy hustled out first, her sketch pad clutched to her chest. Lily then exited hurriedly and Sirius was left to follow.

"Don't worry about the luggage," said Lily as Sirius appeared at her side. "Martin will take care of it."

"Thanks Martin," Lily called as she started to walk up her front steps.

"Anytime Miss Lily," answered the elderly driver with a kind smile. He couldn't help but think that despite the influence of the mistress of the house, Lily had turned out all right.

"Come on you slowpokes," yelled Daisy mockingly as she waited a few steps ahead of them at the front door.

"Daisy Henrietta Evans," said a commanding voice from inside the house as the door opened. "There is no need to be so boisterous and loud; it is unladylike. Apologize at once."

Daisy stiffened as soon as she heard the disappointed tone of Mrs. Evans. "I apologize for my rude behavior," said Daisy meekly as she hung her head.

"Apology accepted," said Mrs. Evans curtly as she moved forward to embrace her daughter. "Hello Lillian dear," said Mrs. Evans as she hugged Lily stiffly. "It is so good to have you home again."

From Sirius' point of view, Lily looked pained as she gave a generic response to her mother's greeting.

"And who is this young man?" asked Mrs. Evans before Lily had a chance to introduce Sirius.

Lily stepped in for Sirius, "This is my friend Sirius Black. Due to last minute circumstances he is unable to stay with his family this summer, would it be alright if he stayed with us mother?" asked Lily in a tone that implied she had practiced her request several times.

Mrs. Evans looked Sirius up and down slowly and then said, "Of course darling, that would be fine. Penelope, please prepare a room for Mr. Black in the East Wing."

One of the maids standing behind Mrs. Evans, presumably Penelope, muttered a "Yes m'am," and hurried off.

"I assume that your friend would like a tour of the house Lillian," said Mrs. Evans. "You missed dinner so ending the tour in the kitchens would be an intelligent decision. Then you may escort Mr. Black to his room where you will promptly bid him good-night and retire to your own room. Do I make myself perfectly clear?"

Sirius was strongly reminded of Professor McGonagall by the middle-aged woman in front of him.

"Yes mother," replied Lily quietly.

"Daisy you would do best to retrieve a light snack from the kitchens now and retire to your room immediately afterwards," commanded Mrs. Evans.

"Yes mother," said Daisy in the same quite tone Lily used.

"And Lillian your father has already retired for the night, but he sends his greetings."

"Of course," said Lily.

"You are dismissed," said Mrs. Evans as she walked away.

Daisy tried to stay behind to talk to Sirius and Lily, but her mother quickly summoned her. She left with a roll of her eyes that caused Lily and Sirius to smile.

"Come on," said Lily with a sigh. "I'll show you the house I guess."

Sirius nodded, "Okay, let's go."

Lily quickly led Sirius through the many rooms of the first floor with a short description of each room. Then she showed him the upstairs quickly where the bedrooms were located. As advised, they ended their journey in the large kitchens.

As it was late, the servants had already gone to bed, but they had left out a large snack for their young mistresses, which Lily gladly shared with her companion.

Lily then led Sirius to the guest room where he would be staying. At the door she said to him, "This is my cue to leave. Think you can find your way into the family dining room tomorrow morning, or do I need to come and pick you up?" she asked in a patronizing tone.

"I think I can manage," said Sirius.

"Alright then, breakfast is served from seven to eight on weekdays and eight to ten on weekends. You can meet my dad at breakfast before he leaves for work. See you in the morning."

"You never showed me where your room is Lily, what happens if I need to find you?" he asked slyly.

"Maybe I'll show you tomorrow," said Lily teasingly. "Good night Sirius," she said as she walked away.

"Good night Lily," he called after her. _Two down and two to go,_ thought Sirius, mentally evaluating the members of the Evans family that he had already met, as he settled in for the night.

The next morning Sirius was awakened by a loud knocking on his bedroom door. After he determined that the knocker was not going to go away and he had no hope of falling back asleep, Sirius got out of bed and opened the door.

He was more than a little bit surprised to see Lily on the other side of his door dressed in very short shorts and an old tee shirt.

"I knew you wouldn't be up yet," said Lily smugly.

Sirius, who was only in his boxers, a fact that Lily refused to let bother her, only groaned. "What time is it?"

Lily glanced at her watch and replied cheerily, "Six thirty five."

"What the hell? I'm going back to bed; you're nuts Evans," mumbled Sirius as he walked sleepily back to his bed and collapsed onto it without even shutting the door.

"Just be sure that you're up for breakfast in a half-hour," Lily called before departing.

Sirius mumbled into his pillow in reply.

Forty-five minutes later, another stream of incessant knocking startled Sirius from his beauty sleep. He grumbled all the way to the door and wrenched it open to find Daisy smiling happily at him.

"Morning sunshine," she said sarcastically. "Lily said that you needed to be woken up again, and now I see that she was right."

"Are all of you morning people?" asked Sirius as he leaned on the doorframe and yawned loudly.

"Yeah, we're used to it," said Daisy off-handedly. "Now you should get dressed and come down to breakfast before it's over. FYI, Lily will be there in about ten minutes, just in case you thought you might like back-up. I'm going down now. See you soon."

Sirius looked at her from underneath his half closed eyelids and said, "Can't I just skip breakfast and sleep for a few more hours?"

Daisy laughed. "What would you want to do that for?"

"I like sleeping," said Sirius defensively.

"Then go to bed earlier. Now go get some clothes on and come down for breakfast," ordered the teenager who was clearly amused by the half-dressed young man before her.

"Yeah okay," sighed Sirius remorsefully. He fully intended to get away as soon as possible to take a nap, but he wasn't about to tell Daisy that.

"Make sure you don't go back to sleep!" shouted Daisy as Sirius shut the door.

She smiled to herself and happily skipped down to join her parents for breakfast.

Just as Daisy had predicted, Lily showed up at the breakfast table in ten minutes, but she was no longer in her shorts and tee-shirt. Now she was wearing a white skirt and top set and her wet hair was piled neatly into a bun on top of her head, the same way her hair was styled every morning at Hogwarts.

"Good morning mother, good morning daddy," said Lily as she kissed her each of her parents' cheeks in turn and took her seat at the table.

"Good morning Lillian," said Mrs. Evans as she barely looked up from the proposed menu for dinner that night that had been given to her to get her stamp of approval.

"Hello there princess," said Mr. Evans as he put down his morning paper and smiled at his daughter lovingly. "I'm sorry I wasn't awake when you arrived home last night, I had a full day at the office and was falling asleep at my desk. I hope your mother gave you my regrets?"

"Of course I did Albert," interrupted Mrs. Evans.

"I never doubted you Clarice," said Albert Evans. Once Mrs. Evans had turned back to her menu for the day, Albert continued talking to his daughter, "So Clarice tells me that you brought a boy home for the summer?" Albert's eyebrows went way up at this inquiry. He knew his daughter dated, but that didn't mean he liked it, and he certainly didn't appreciate having a hormonal teenage boyfriend in the house with his precious daughter. He remembered all too well what it was like to be a seventeen-year-old boy.

Lily laughed, "It's not what you think Daddy. He's just a friend. I mean it," she finished firmly when she saw the doubting look on her dad's face. "There are some conflicts that arouse suddenly and he was without a place to stay for the summer. I couldn't just let him go out into the street."

Mr. Evans smiled with pride at his compassionate daughter. Lily had always taken it upon herself to help others, from the small turtle she had found upside on the beach when she was five, to homeless teenage boys. "So you assure me that nothing is going on between you and this boy?" asked Mr. Evans.

"His name is Sirius and absolutely not."

At this point Sirius walked into the dining room and he added, "She's right, my best friend would kill me on the spot. Sirius Black sir," he said as he extended a hand to the master of the house.

Mr. Evans shook his hand and was impressed by the boy's strong grip. "Have a seat Sirius."

"Thank you sir, and thank you for allowing me to stay in your home. I know that it's very last minute," said Sirius as he took an empty seat next to Daisy.

"It's no trouble son, we love helping friends of Lily's. And I would love to ask you a few questions about your world, it's not often I get to meet wizards," said Albert.

"I'd be happy to answer as best as I can," said Sirius as he helped himself to some food when he got an inaudible command from Lily.

"Good, good," Mr. Evans mumbled as he buttered a slice of toast. "So what's on the agenda for today Lily dear?"

Lily quickly swallowed the food in her mouth, but she wasn't allowed to respond because Clarice once again jumped in for her, "At nine Lillian has a piano lesson; at ten thirty her French tutor will arrive, and then she's going out for lunch with Derrick Hendriks at half past twelve. After lunch she has her dancing lessons, followed by etiquette training until four. Then Jane will get her ready for dinner with the Daniels tonight. Promptly at nine she will excuse herself and retire to her room."

Lily took in her schedule with an impartial look, nodding as each activity was read off.

"Sounds like a very busy day," said Albert with forced cheerfulness. "Well, I'm off to work. Have a wonderful day ladies, and you too Sirius. Give my regards to Petunia."

As Albert left the table Daisy asked, "Mother, where is Petunia?"

Mrs. Evans replied, "She is eating brunch with the Sanderson's, so she will not join us for breakfast this morning."

Daisy nodded, Lily sighed in relief.

The rest of the breakfast passed in silence and Sirius was only too glad to follow Lily's example and excuse himself as quickly as possible.

After they had left the dining room Sirius exclaimed, "It sounds like you have to go to school! No wait, it's worse than school! French lessons? Dancing lessons?"

"More boring that History of Magic I assure you," said Lily with only a hint of a smile.

"But you actually stayed awake in that class."

"That doesn't mean I liked it, I dropped it after taking the O.W.L.s."

"Smart move."

"Yeah."

Sirius then asked, "Is you whole summer like this?"

Lily smiled weakly, "Yup. Everyday is as planned as the last; some are worse than others though. Today's especially bad because it's a weekday and my first day home. Tomorrow won't be so bad since it's a Saturday. Mother usually goes out calling on Saturdays so she eats early. You can get up around nine if you want and come down to eat in your pajamas."

Sirius smiled warily, "Lucky me."

"Hey! You have no right to complain. You don't have to do anything all day."

"Speaking of, what am I going to do all day?"

"If you value your life, I would make myself scarce. Stay out of Clarice's way and she won't bother you."

"And where am I going to do that?"

"I'm showing you right now. We're going to the game room. I'll show you how to work some of the muggle games and I hope you can keep yourself occupied. I'll ask one of the maids to bring you lunch in here," said Lily as she opened a door. "The bathroom is just down there."

Lily walked into the room after pointing to where the nearest bathroom was and then she proceeded to show Sirius how to work some of the electronics in the room like the television.

Then she left him and prepared to get ready for her French lesson.

Several hours later Lily returned to Sirius who was still as astonished by the television as he had been when she left him that morning.

"Hello Sirius, had a nice day?" she asked with a smile.

"Yeah, yeah, hi Lily," he said absently.

"Come on, we have to get ready for dinner; you're expected to come and I have to transfigure your clothes into something muggle," she said as she grabbed his hand and pulled him away as if he were a young child.

"But Lily," he whined. "My show is on next!"

"You can come back and spend all day tomorrow rotting your brain if you like. But now we have to go."

Sirius reluctantly let himself be led out of the room. After a while he said, "You can let go of my hand now."

To cover her mistake Lily said, "You promise that you won't go running back to the game room if I let go?"

"I promise," he said as if he were a five-year-old. "So how was your day?"

"Productive," said Lily simply.

"What's Derrick like?" he asked slyly.

"Incredibly pompous and, and, and, self-centered, I suppose would be an accurate adjective."

"Then why did you have lunch with him?"

Lily raised her eyebrows at him. "You think I plan out with whom I eat my meals?"

"You mean you don't?"

"No. Clarice just dictates."

"Tough life," said Sirius.

Lily shrugged. "I get through it."

"Kind of ruins the summer though doesn't it? I mean you have to do stuff that you hate, not much of a vacation."

"It could be worse; I mean I could be forced to work all day every day to support my family, or I could have to sleep in a cardboard box in some alley with a bunch of hobos and guys like you," she teased.

Sirius laughed. "It's true. There are a lot of things that are worse."

By this time, they had arrived at Sirius' room. Lily opened the door and went in.

"Okay, give me some of your school robes and I'll transfigure them into muggle dress clothes. Then I'll copy them and vary it a little bit," she said, taking charge.

Sirius challenged her, "But we can't do magic outside of school. I don't want you arrested on my account."

"Guess who's seventeen?" she said while pointing at herself. "A.K.A. a full witch who can do magic whenever she feels like it."

Sirius groaned. "I hate having a summer birthday!"

"I bet you do, now hand me some of your robes."

Sirius rummaged in his trunk for some of his school robes. Eventually he was able to pull out a ball of bunched up clothes, which he promptly threw in Lily's direction. As she was distracted, she did not catch said clothes and instead got a face-full of robes.

"Heads up," said Sirius.

"Thanks for the warning," grumbled Lily.

Lily pulled out her wand and a few incantations later and Sirius had a brand new muggle wardrobe.

"Thanks Lily."

"No problem, just hurry up and get dressed, I needed to be in my room five minutes ago! Let's just hope Jane doesn't go looking for me! See you in the parlor at five! Make sure that you're on time!" called Lily as she ran from the room.

Sirius moaned. He didn't need an hour to get dressed, but he did want to be on time so that Lily's mother didn't throw him out. She didn't seem to like him, so he had decided to be on his best behavior, which was really hard for him. It was easier without James, Remus or Peter there, however. Now his only influences were Lily and her younger sister, and they acted like perfect little ladies, well around their mother anyways. Sirius still hadn't met Petunia, but he was not overly concerned about it; the rest of the Evans' seemed to tolerate him enough.

Meanwhile, Lily was being primped by her mother's maid Jane. She sighed deeply as Jane applied foundation to her face.

"Something wrong miss?" asked Jane as she continued on with her work.

"Nothing out of the ordinary," said Lily with a defeated air.

Lily knew it was hopeless to complain about her mother's policies. No matter what she said, Lily was still going to be forced to go out with idiotic men of her mother's choosing, entertain and host people she didn't like, wear clothes that she hated, and have her hair and make-up done without her input.

Soon Lily found herself sitting next to her mother on a sofa in the parlor waiting to welcome their guests for the evening. Sirius was sitting next to Daisy in a loveseat not to far away and, though Lily couldn't hear what was being said, she saw that they were having a very entertaining and funny conversation. Lily only wished that she could be over there and not with her mother and sister, who was seated on the other side of Mrs. Evans.

Petunia's meeting of Sirius had gone well enough; she was just as stiff and critical as her mother, but Lily considered that a blessing that she hadn't screamed and carried on about there being another _freak_ in the house.

Within a few more minutes the Daniels, a typical family of four, a dad, mom, son and daughter, had arrived. After some greetings, small talk and a few drinks, dinner was served.

Dinner was largely uneventful, except for the time when Mrs. Daniels tried to initiate a conversation with Sirius, who had been sitting quietly and not contributing until then, much unlike him. It was clear to Lily that Mrs. Daniels was evaluating Sirius as a potential son-in-law, but Lily was powerless to stop her.

"So, Sirius, are you still in school?" asked Mrs. Daniels.

Sirius looked almost startled at being addressed. "Yes," he answered promptly.

"Oh, what year are you in?"

"I'll be going into my seventh year in September."

"And where do you go to school?"

Sirius gulped. How was he supposed to answer that question? Luckily Lily intervened.

"Sirius goes to school with me, Mrs. Daniels. We both go to a boarding school up north," said Lily as politely as she could. She knew that she was going to get a scolding from her mother for being rude, but it was worth it to save the wizarding world from detection.

"Oh and where is that deary? I seem to have forgotten," said Mrs. Daniels.

"St. Thomas Aquinas' Academy for Young Gentlemen and Ladies," Lily rattled off without any thought.

"I can't say that I've ever heard of it."

Sirius jumped in now, knowing fully well that a good lie doesn't work if only one person talks; lies were much more convincing if they matched up. "It isn't very well-known, quite a small school actually."

"About how many students attend?"

Sirius looked to Lily as if consulting her, "I would say approximately 300 for all seven years."

Lily jumped in, "I wouldn't even think that there were that many; 250 at the most."

"My, that is a small school. What subjects are you studying Sirius?"

Now he was royally screwed and he knew it; Lily knew it too, there was no way she could help him out of this one.

"Well," said Sirius, desperately trying to recall what his Muggle Studies teacher had told his class about muggle schools. "I am taking history," he started. "Umm, astronomy, and…" he struggled to find more subjects. He couldn't exactly say Charms or Transfiguration now could he? Suddenly he caught sight of Lily's moving hands. They were pantomiming something. "And writing of course," he said as he recognized the gesture.

"Something wrong with your hands Lillian?" asked Mrs. Evans, who obviously hadn't been oblivious to Lily's activities.

"Yes," said Lily as she flexed her fingers some more. "They are a little sore from playing the piano so much this morning. Julia," she said, addressing the Daniels' daughter. "Do you play any instruments?"

And so the conversation moved on. Never again did either Lily, Petunia or Mrs. Evans allow talk to be turned back to Sirius for fear of what he might say. For different reasons, none of the Evans girls wanted the Daniels to find out about the special talents of Lily and Sirius; Lily was afraid for her other world and her mother and sister didn't want to be labeled as 'freaks'.

Soon enough it was nine o'clock. Mrs. Evans sent a glare Lily's way and she quickly excused herself for the evening. Daisy had long since left, so Sirius had no one else to talk to, so he also bid good-night to the remaining party.

Lily was waiting for him right outside the door.

"How did you know I would be right behind you?" asked Sirius quietly as he closed the door behind him.

"You're pretty predictable you know," she said patiently. "I wouldn't have stayed in there any longer than I had to either."

"Thanks for saving my ass back there at dinner," said Sirius after a brief silence.

"It was my ass too you know," said Lily sincerely. "In fact I think I should get a trophy for saving so many asses in one night."

"No! Not another trophy! How about a medal? Those are easier to polish," said Sirius in a begging manner.

"What are you on about?" giggled Lily.

"Well I figure that every eighth detention Minnie gives me is polishing the trophies in the trophy room and I have a whole year-full. From past experience I know that medals and plaques are easier to clean than trophies, less weird edges and so forth, so, since I will probably be polishing said trophy many times over, I was wondering if you would be so kind as to accept a medal instead. Come on, be a pal! Take one for the team!"

"The Sirius Black team?" asked Lily jokingly.

"The one and only," said Sirius with a grin.

Lily sighed dramatically. "If it were anyone else I think I would demand a statue, but for you Sirius, why not? A medal it is! But it had better be a darn good medal, you hear?"

"I'll make Peter carve it himself!"

Lily laughed openly. "I never knew Peter to be a craftsman!"

"He's not, but he has all summer to learn! I'll just send him an owl and get him right on… it," Sirius finished his sentence slowly, realizing that he _couldn't_ just send Peter an owl.

Lily understood Sirius' change of tone almost immediately; she stopped walking and pulled him into a hug. "I'm sorry Sirius," she whispered.

"It's okay Lily," Sirius whispered back, feeling grateful to have someone on his side.

All of a sudden Lily quickly pulled away. Sirius turned quickly to see what was bothering her and only saw the Daniels' son skulking behind them.

"Hello Justin," said Lily coolly. "What are you doing so far from the party?"

"Scoping out the competition," he said bluntly.

"There is nothing to investigate here, so I suggest that you run back to the party like the good little boy your mother thinks you are," said Lily chillingly.

Justin turned his attention to Sirius now, "So your Evans' new boy toy, huh? Your taste in men has certainly diminished as of late Lillian," he said mockingly. "Even Kinty was better than this one and he was retarded."

"You leave Kevin out of this! He has a learning disability; he is not mentally disabled and I take offense to your crude terminology," snapped Lily.

"Well, excuse me," said Justin sarcastically.

"No, your behavior is inexcusable," said Lily coldly. "There was no need for such comments; if you have a problem with me, don't be a coward and take it out on my friend."

"I think we both know that you don't just have friends Lillian, just the occasional snogging partners," said Justin mockingly.

Sirius reacted on impulse and immediately withdrew his wand from his pocket. Even though he was on summer holiday in a muggle house, Sirius, like Lily, carried his wand around with him everywhere; his wand was a part of him; he couldn't be without it. "Take it back," he said in a low voice. "Take back and apologize, or you'll be sorry."

"Lower your wand," hissed Lily as Justin said foolishly, "What are you going to do, through the piece of wood at me?"

Sirius looked a little defeated; he knew that it was foolish to curse the muggle in front of him because that would surely land him in a trial at the Ministry for breaking several different laws and he was not sure that Dumbledore would stand up for him and protect him as he had with the Snape incident. "It was the first thing that came to my mind, but there are several more painful procedures that you can go through until you take back what you said."

"Back off Sirius," said Lily quietly. "There's no need for threats."

"But Lily! What he said…" exclaimed Sirius.

"I can handle this Sirius. I don't need you getting involved; things are messed up enough already without you making it worse!" growled Lily.

"Well if you two are done," drawled Justin.

"Yeah, we're done," said Sirius as he stalked off on his own.

"Sirius! I didn't mean it like that!" Lily desperately called after him.

Sirius just kept walking.

"Justin! Why do you have to ruin everything!" asked Lily rounding on the smirking teenager before her.

"It's incredibly fun," he laughed.

"No, seriously, what is wrong with you?" asked Lily incredulously. "It's because I went to the Haberforms' ball with Patrick last year instead of you, isn't it?"

"We were dating Lillian! You had no right to go with anyone but me!" shouted Justin, suddenly enraged.

Lily shook her head and replied, "We weren't _dating_ Justin; I just went out for dinner with you once. You never asked to see me again or asked me if I wanted to go steady with you, and you never asked me to the ball. Patrick did ask me, and since no one else had at that point and I didn't have a _steady_ boyfriend at the time, I went with him."

"But Lillian, I really like you!"

"You've gone about it all wrong then," said Lily with what little patience she had left. "You've been an insensitive prat and you've insulted me. I think we should continue on our separate paths. Good-bye Justin."

Justin just stood there dumb-founded; he had never met anyone quite like Lillian Evans; he doubted he ever would again.

As soon as she left Justin, Lily continued traveling to Sirius' room, her original destination. When she reached his door, she tentatively knocked on it, wanting very much to make things better with Sirius immediately.

She heard a muffled "Come in," so she slowly turned the knob and opened the door.

Sirius was lying on his back on his bed just staring at the ceiling; he hadn't even changed out of his formal attire yet, just loosed his tie and unbuttoned his shirt.

"Sirius?"

"Ummm?"

"I'm sorry for yelling at you before, I was frustrated and I didn't mean what I said."

"It's okay I guess," said Sirius quietly.

Lily took a seat at the end of the bed and said, "Justin's a jerk."

"Yeah, reminds me of Snivellus," said Sirius without thinking about how Lily felt about his mortal enemy.

Lily sighed, but didn't comment and Sirius didn't press the matter.

"I have to be going," she said at last.

"Are you really going to bed at nine o'clock during the summer?"

"No!" said Lily disbelievingly. "Mother said I have to go to my room at nine; she never said I had to go to sleep at nine."

"What are you going to do?" asked Sirius.

"Probably start some school work," shrugged Lily. "Not much going on tonight as far as I know."

"Oh."

"Bored already?" asked Lily with a grin.

"Yes," said Sirius drawing the normally one syllable word out until it had reached a record eight syllables.

"What would you be doing if you were at James' house right now?"

"Knowing James, probably a night game of Quidditch, or something like that."

"Yeah," laughed Lily quietly. "Well, there's nothing going on tonight, but next Friday night there's a party," she said slowly.

"What kind of party and where is it?" asked Sirius excitedly as he quickly sat up.

"It's a birthday party here," said Lily, trying to be cheerful.

"Whose birthday is it? Daisy's? Petunia's?"

"Mine actually."

"Happy Birthday!" said Sirius with a large grin.

"It's just the party," said Lily dismissively. "My birthday was weeks ago, but mother insists that I have a party when I return home for the summer."

Sirius suddenly looked as if he had something particularly and surprisingly nasty in his mouth. "Do we have to dress up?"

Lily smiled, "Yeah. I have this awful dress and everything! It weighs like six pounds and goes down to the floor and has a train and everything."

"And that means absolutely nothing to me…" said Sirius as he just nodded along.

"Yeah I know it doesn't."

"Well as long as you know."

"You can stop nodding now."

"Oh yeah," said Sirius sheepishly.

"Alright, I'm going to go now; I'll see you tomorrow."

"You're going to leave me here all by myself?"

"Yeah, but you know how to get down to the game room if you want to; introduce yourself to late night television while you're there. I think you'll like it," said Lily as she got up off of Sirius' bed.

"You mean there's stuff on the box thingy all the time?" he asked with his eyes wide and disbelieving.

"Don't you take muggle studies?"

"Yeah."

"Shouldn't you know what the 'box thingy' is called then?"

"Probably, but I don't really pay much attention in that class; I only took it because it seemed like an easy class to pass and could be rather helpful when picking up muggle chicks."

"Most likely it will come in handy; as far as I know no muggle girl would date you if you didn't know what a television is," said Lily. "Good-night Sirius."

"Night Lily."

Lily went off to her bedroom happily. Little did she know that she was being followed by one Sirius Black who was immensely curious to see what her bedroom looked like. As soon as he saw the location of Lily's room, Sirius sneaked off to the game room, fully intending to check out Lily's room as soon as he could be assured that she would be out of it.

**Thanks for the reviews guys! Keep it up! (As you may have noticed, I updated in a week. Coincidence? I think not! More reviews faster updates! It's elementary my dear Watson!) Hope you enjoyed this chapter and I hope to hear from all of you!**


	4. A Series of Uninvited Guests

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Harry Potter or Harry Potter related copyrights.**

Lily was sitting quietly in one of the very comfortable armchairs in the library of her very large home reading one of the many novels that lined the shelves of the room. She was just savoring the whole things; she loved the afternoon sunlight that streamed in through the floor to ceiling windows and bathed her bare legs in warmth; she was reading an especially thrilling mystery novel, and she had a batch of freshly baked cookies and a cool glass of milk on the table next to her, just within her grasp; she also had another two hours until she would be forced to start the three hour-long process of getting ready for her birthday party that evening.

Unfortunately, Lily's peace did not last forever. One of the maids rushed in and said, "Sorry to interrupt miss, but there's a visitor here to see Mr. Black and I can't find him anywhere."

"He's probably still sleeping Kendra," snapped Lily as she was pulled out of her book.

"Yes of course miss, sorry to have bothered you," mumbled Kendra as she looked down at the floor.

"Oh, I'm sorry Kendra; I didn't mean to snap at you. This is just an intense book," she said smiling apologetically while showing the book to the frightened maid in front of her. "But, just out of curiosity, who is here for Sirius?"

"She's says that she's his mother and that she's looking for him, to bring him home."

"Oh, where is she?" asked Lily in what she hoped was a calm tone. In truth, she was scared to death. Mrs. Black was here? Lily had heard stories about her… she shivered and was so caught up in her thoughts that she had to ask Kendra to repeat the location of Sirius' mother.

Once Kendra was dismissed and asked not to wake Sirius up, Lily placed a bookmark in her book and gently set it down on the side table. Then she checked to make sure that her wand was still in her pocket where it belonged. Satisfied, Lily walked quickly over to the front parlor where her guest was located.

Lily hesitated before the door for a minute; when she didn't hear the sound of anyone screaming or anything breaking, she deemed it safe and stepped into the room.

The room's only occupant was turned away from Lily and seemed to be examining the fireplace extensively.

"May I help you?" asked Lily timidly.

The woman spun around and Lily was a bit surprised. She had never actually seen Mrs. Black, but this was not what she had expected. The woman before her actually looked, well, she looked like a mother should. She had short dark brown hair and warm hazel eyes. She also had a comforting smile and lovely dimples.

"Ah! Hello," the woman said nicely. "You must be Lily!"

"Um, yes I am," said Lily uncertainly, all the while her hand inching towards her wand.

"I could just tell! My son James speaks so highly of you and he pointed you out at the train station a while ago," said the woman, whom Lily finally discovered was Mrs. _Potter_, not Mrs. Black. "You really are much prettier in person and even more beautiful than James described."

Lily blushed at Mrs. Potter's compliments; she now felt really badly for crushing James just before the vacation, but it was for his own good, she reminded herself. She didn't want him caught up in her life; it was hard enough for her to deal with, she didn't need someone else becoming part of the tangled web.

"Umm, you were looking for Sirius?" she asked.

"Yes, yes I am. Do you know where he is?"

Lily grinned. "He's still sleeping. But I can wake him up for you if you like?"

"No need dear, I will do it myself," said Mrs. Potter with a grin somewhat similar to James' own mischievous smile.

"I'll show you the way then," said Lily as she exited the room with Mrs. Potter in tow.

Lily and Mrs. Potter silently made their way through the hallways until Lily stopped in front of a door and said, "This is Sirius' room."

Mrs. Potter smiled gratefully and said, "I must commend you my dear; not many people would take Sirius Black into their homes and tolerate him for an entire week. I would have been here sooner to collect him if my son hadn't sent me on a wild goose chase."

"What chase?"

"Well, I got curious when Sirius didn't come home with James this summer. James said that he was staying with Remus. A few days later I talked to Mrs. Lupin, who had no idea where Sirius was and said that Remus hadn't mentioned any of the boys all week. James then told me that Sirius was off at Peter's. I was rather concerned at this point because the story had changed very quickly, so I went directly to Mrs. Pettigrew who hadn't seen Sirius either. This really had me worried."

"I would assume it would," said Lily, putting her two cents in.

"And then finally I discovered that he had gone home with you while talking to my good friend Rachel McKinnon, Marlene's mother of course."

"That is quite a hunt."

"Yes and I'm not about to let him forget it, let me tell you. But I'm still confused as to why Sirius is here; perhaps you could enlighten me my dear?"

Lily took a deep breath; then she shifted her weight from one foot to the other uncomfortably. Finally she looked Mrs. Potter in the eye. "I know a lot more than I probably should, but most of it is speculation on my part. What I was _told_ however, is that Sirius did something unforgivable to Remus, he betrayed him in some way, and it basically tore them all apart. None of them are speaking now."

Mrs. Potter looked startled, "They aren't speaking to each other? They are letting some small problem get in the way of their friendship? That's ridiculous! The boys mean the world to James and vice versa! I am not about to stand by and watch them destroy their friendship over an argument. They are all too proud to be the first to suggest reconciling, but I am not. They will settle this whether they want to or not, and I'm sure that Remus and Peter's mothers will help as well."

"I don't know what Hogwarts would be like without them," said Lily with a small smile.

"It would probably be a lot quieter and less scary to the first years," said Mrs. Potter with a chuckle.

"Well you had better wake Sirius up so the reconciliation can begin," said Lily to the very strong-willed woman in front of her.

"Yes I suppose that would be a good place to start. He has been long overdue to get a scolding for going missing and not leaving a note or owling or anything, leaving me to have to do some investigating on my own and drop by uninvited to bring his sorry arse home! Sorry, sorry I'm just a little upset with him at the moment."

Lily smiled; she had no doubt that Sirius was about to get a very rude awakening; literally.

"I'll be in the library if you need any reinforcements," said Lily.

"Don't worry dear; I can handle Sirius Black all on my own."

"I never doubted it."

Approximately thirty minutes later, a knock came on the door frame and Sirius poked his head in the room. "Hey Lily!"

"Afternoon Sirius," said Lily without looking up from her book. When she finally finished her page, she put a bookmark in her book and turned to him.

By this time he had shuffled into the room with Mrs. Potter right behind him, smiling triumphantly.

"So, what's going on?" inquired Lily.

"Well, I suppose I'm going back to the Potter's now to face my imminent death," sighed Sirius dramatically.

"Sirius," warned Mrs. Potter.

"Right," he said with the grin he used to try to flatter Professor McGonagall. "I'm going back to the Potter's house to get murdered by my three best mates."

"Sirius," said Mrs. Potter exasperatedly.

"Oh, thank you so much for hosting me this past week it has been a pleasure," said Sirius as if he were a well-trained little boy repeating exactly what his mother had told him. "How was that Mrs. Potter? Satisfied yet?"

"Yes Sirius, you did very well," said Mrs. Potter patronizingly.

"It was my pleasure," said Lily with a smile at the exchange. "It was fun having a boy in the house; I've only ever had sisters. It was a new experience."

"One I'm sure that you will never want to repeat," said Mrs. Potter with a disapproving glance at her surrogate son.

"Oh no, Sirius behaved himself the whole time. I was actually quite proud of him really."

"Really? Sirius behaving himself? Why I never…"

"See Mrs. Potter; I wasn't a burden!"

"It's true Mrs. Potter; he was a great guest."

Mrs. Potter, still looking shocked said, "This doesn't change anything Sirius Black! You are still grounded for not sending an owl about where you were going!"

"Fine," mumbled Sirius.

"Well, Lily dear, we must be off. Thank you again for keeping Sirius contained and out of trouble. And thank your parents for me too; Sirius says that they aren't home right now."

"He's right; my dad's at his office and my mother went out visiting." Then Lily smiled as the pair walked out of the room.

"Sirius wait!" said Lily as she thought of something suddenly.

"You called?" he said as he turned around.

"Before you go could you do me a favor?"

"Sure, I figure you've got about thirty favors coming to you."

"Could you say good-bye to Daisy? I think she's developed a crush on you since you've been here. She would be devastated if you left without saying something to her."

Sirius grinned widely, "Of course I'll say good-bye to Daisy; where is she?"

"She's outside on the patio with a few of her friends. She'll be thrilled if you say good-bye to her in front of her friends; they all think that you are incredibly cute for some bizarre reason. She's been showing them her sketches of you all morning. They are all very jealous of course."

Sirius chuckled loudly. "Don't worry; I'll take care of her. See you later Lily. Don't forget to owl!"

"Never. Don't get yourself killed; I don't want a blubbering Daisy on my hands. She can be very dramatic when she wants to be."

"I'll do my best," said Sirius pretending to be serious as he saluted Lily and left the room.

Sirius explained his reason for delay to Mrs. Potter, who had been waiting outside the library, and then promised to meet her in the car out front.

Sirius meandered out to the patio grinning to himself.

"Hey Daisy," he said nonchalantly as he walked onto the patio.

He was met by the stunned looks of several thirteen-year-old girls and the smug look of one Daisy Evans.

"Hey Sirius," she said with a wide smirk. "You got up a whole hour earlier than yesterday; I'm so proud of you!"

"It wasn't pleasant let me tell you," said Sirius. "My friend's mom came by to tell me that I had to go home now."

"You have to go?" asked Daisy as her face instantly fell.

"Yup, 'fraid so. I've overstayed my welcome as it is."

"No, we love having you here!" said Daisy.

"And I love being here," said Sirius sincerely. "But, I have to go settle some things at home."

"Will you come visit?"

"Well, I'm kind of grounded for a while, but after that sure! And you can ow- send me letters; just ask your sister for my address."

"I'm going to miss you Sirius," said Daisy as she got up from her chair and gave Sirius a big hug.

"I'm going to miss you too love, but don't worry I'll be around. Take care of your sister for me," he said as he disentangled himself from her and gave her a quick peck on the cheek.

"Will do," she said quietly. As Sirius turned to go, she said loudly, "Wait, I want you to have something!"

"I love presents!" said Sirius with a wide smile that made the girls giggle.

Daisy ran back over to her seat and pulled out her sketch book. She quickly flipped to a page and ripped one of them out.

"Here," she said proffering the page.

"Thanks," said Sirius genuinely as he looked at the very well-done drawing of him and Lily chatting happily. "This is really good. Don't forget to invite me to your art show in some famous museum some day."

Daisy grinned, looking incredibly adorable with her blonde hair plaited in two braids with bows at the end.

"See you around Daisy," Sirius said for the last time as he really departed.

Sirius could hear the hushed whispers and giggles erupt behind him as he went back inside the house. Lily was standing up against the windows and as he walked by, Lily said to Sirius. "Thanks, you made her really happy."

"My pleasure, she's a sweet kid."

"See you Sirius."

"Bye Lily."

Lily felt a kind of sinking feeling in her gut as she watched Sirius walk away. It had been fun having him around. He made her laugh and he was a welcome break from all of the other pompous momma's boys that she was forced to deal with everyday. She was going to miss him.

A few hours later and several hundred miles away, things were not going especially well at Potter Manor. Due to the combined efforts and threats of Mrs. Potter, Pettigrew and Lupin, James, Sirius, Remus and Peter had been assembled in one room and made to stay there while their mothers listened intently while having tea to see if their sons had reconciled yet. The three women had had it with their sons' moaning and wanted to see them out of the house and having fun. So, they set up this little meeting at which they could catch up on news and make their sons be friends again at the same time.

"Roberta, Linda, do either of you know much about Lily Evans?" asked Mrs. Potter.

Linda Lupin replied, "She's been a prefect with Remus for the past two years. He says that she's a brilliant witch and very brave to boot."

Roberta Pettigrew than said, "It seems like Peter is scared to death of the girl. Apparently she had some sort of run-in with the boys and she took them all down a notch."

"I heard of that incident too," said Linda. "Remus said that Lily especially deflated James' ego."

Marilyn Potter sighed, "He does have an oversized head. It's good to know that somewhere someone can pop it every once in a while."

"From what I have gathered, mostly through guessing- I swear I hardly ever can get Remus to talk to me- Miss Lily quite often puts James in his place," said Linda.

"Peter also says that James has taken quite a liking to Lily, but she turns him down every time he asks her out."

"Is that so?" Marilyn mulled over this new information. "I seem to recall Sirius and James talking often about Lily, though James usually tries to silence Sirius immediately and turns red in the process. Though, he has said some things about her on occasion; all very, very flattering descriptions. He pointed her out to me once when I asked," she mused.

"Why do you ask Marilyn? Matchmaking again are you?" asked Linda as she took a bite into a buttered scone.

"Of course not!" said Marilyn indignantly. "And besides as I recall that match turned out well and they are now happily married with several children. But that is beside the point. You'll never guess where I finally found Sirius."

"Where?" asked both of the other mothers, eager for some gossip.

Marilyn smiled against the rim of her teacup and looked at her companions. After she took a sip of tea, Marilyn said, "He was at Lily's house!"

"Oh! That's going to be a bit of drama there. Do you think that's what they are fighting about?" asked Roberta.

"No I don't, I think this goes deeper than that; though I'm sure we'll be hearing more about Lily Evans in the future," said Marilyn cryptically.

On the other side of the wall, Sirius had finally had enough of the brooding silence that had fallen over the room ever since the four boys had been forced into it together. He stood up from his corner and said, "Ok! This is stupid! We shouldn't be fighting like this! I know what I did was wrong and I'm sorry ok? I AM SORRY! Can't we just get over this and move on?"

"You betrayed us Sirius; that's not that easy to get over," said James sullenly from his corner.

"No James, he betrayed me, me and only me," said Remus with sadness evident in his voice. "But, I agree Sirius, this has been going on for too long."

"No point in ruining our friendship right guys?" said Peter. "What would Hogwarts do without us?"

"I'm sure Minnie would sleep safer and Filch would breathe easier," said Sirius, very relieved that things were going so well.

"Hell, he might even stop hyperventilating," said Remus wryly.

Three of the Marauders shared an uneasy laugh; James however was still glowering in his corner.

"Remus!" he shouted. "How can you reconcile with him? He could have gotten you locked away in Azkaban! He sold you out to your worst enemy!"

"Don't you think I know that? I'm pretty familiar with the laws, thanks," said Remus. "I'm just sick of us fighting."

"But now Snape knows!"

"I know Snape knows, James. But, Dumbledore made sure he wouldn't tell; he made him do an Unbreakable Vow that he wouldn't tell a soul. I trust Dumbledore; he's done so much for me."

"James," began Sirius.

"No!" shouted James.

"Just listen to him," said Peter.

"No, I'm not going to listen!"

"James, be reasonable! I don't want to fight anymore! If I can forgive him, you can too!" yelled Remus uncharacteristically.

"You forgive me?" asked Sirius.

Remus turned to Sirius. "Yes," he said at last. "I forgive you, but I don't exactly trust you anymore. It's going to take a while before I can trust you again."

"Understandable," said Sirius very relieved.

"You forgive him?" spluttered James.

"Yes," said Remus tiredly. "I do forgive him because he is one of my best friends. But that doesn't necessarily mean I trust him, at all. Now stop being a prat and let's all be friends again. This week has been terrible; I have had no incentive to get up in the morning, and my mom has been badgering me to get up and do stuff. She's been really annoying actually; she's been hovering a lot, and she always wants me to talk to her."

James sulked for a while, but then finally swallowed his pride and said, "Alright. The Marauders are back in action."

"And for our first new adventure," said Sirius grinning like a maniac. "I have the perfect idea."

"What now?" asked Peter impatiently, causing the others to laugh..

"Guess who is having a birthday party tonight?"

"Who?" asked Peter brightly.

"One Lillian Evans," bragged Sirius. "And I know where and when."

"So you want to ruin her birthday?" asked Remus skeptically.

"No! Of course not! I was actually thinking of saving her from boredom, I thought we could just brighten up the party a little bit," said Sirius diplomatically.

"Like how?" asked Remus.

"The usual, spike the punch, bring along some music, games… you know."

"How did you know about the party?" asked James suspiciously.

Sirius gulped. He had been afraid of this part. When he didn't answer, James repeated the question, his tone low and dangerous.

"Well, you see, I was rather afraid of being torn to ribbons if I went with one of you guys for the summer and I certainly couldn't go to the Blacks, so I went with Lily back to her place," Sirius' voice was no louder than a whisper by the time he had finished.

Unlike what any of them suspected, James did not blow up or internally combust at this news. In fact, he didn't say anything. Peter thought that James had gone deaf.

"What time is the party?" asked James finally.

Sirius glanced at his wristwatch. "Should get going any minute now."

"Well let's go then! We have a birthday celebration to crash!" said James heroically.

James went over to the door and, finding it still locked, knocked and said, "Mum can you let us out now?"

"Please" added Remus.

"We're friends again," said Peter happily.

"Yeah what they said," concluded Sirius.

Mrs. Potter opened the door and surveyed the four boys, "Glad to hear it. Now James and Sirius, you are both grounded for a week." When the boys in question opened their mouths to protest, she continued, "James you lied to me about where Sirius was twice, and Sirius you never sent a note or an owl telling anyone where you were going and caused me a whole lot of worry. So now, you are both being punished. Remus, Peter you may both visit for an hour, if it's alright with your mothers, but after that the punishment goes into effect immediately."

The quartet all nodded with their heads hung and after their mothers had agreed, they ran upstairs to James' room, while their mothers proceeded to talk about them.

"Ok, we need a new plan," said Sirius as soon as they had all seated themselves in their normal positions; James claimed his bed, Remus sat in an armchair near the window; Sirius hopped up on James' desk and Peter was left to sit on the floor at the foot of James' bed.

"Not a new plan, just one that's more cunning," said James conspiratorially.

"We're still going to do this?" asked Remus.

"I thought you guys were grounded," said Peter.

"Minor technicality," said Sirius. "All we have to do is wait until your mothers come and collect you. Then Prongs and I will go our separate ways, maybe listen to another lecture from Mr. or Mrs. P., and then we all meet back up somewhere."

"You do know that if you get caught, Mrs. Potter will likely ground you for an even longer period of time," said the voice of reason, Remus.

"It'll be worth it," said Sirius. "We can't leave Lily by herself to face a boring party."

"Why is it going to be boring?" asked Peter.

"Because, because, because it just is! Take my word for it, Lily will be glad that we're there."

"Are you sure Sirius? Because if we ruin Lily's birthday and she hates us for the rest of her life, I will personally hex you from here to Lily's house so that she can hex you some more, and don't forget she's awfully good at Charms," said Remus, trying to recover some of the former brotherly bantering that had existed between him and Sirius before the prank on Snape. However, his tone only came out as tense and strained; it was as if he was trying too hard to feel something that he couldn't.

Sirius quickly sobered up. He knew that even though Remus had forgiven him that they were still on uncertain terms; Remus' tone especially reminded him of that fact. "Don't worry Remus. I'll take the heat if anything goes wrong, and if she wants us to leave, she'll say so. Lily doesn't exactly keep her opinions to herself."

"That's for sure," muttered James bitterly. He still hadn't come to terms with his latest rejection.

"Hey Prongs! Why aren't you happier that we're crashing Lily's birthday party? I thought you _loved_ her!" teased Peter.

"I never said I loved her," said James quietly with a repressed anger that Peter failed to notice.

"Yes you did," continued Peter. "All the time! She's all you ever talk about! How can you even say that you aren't like totally obsessed with her?"

"There's a big difference between love and obsession Peter," said Remus quietly and calmly.

"Can we stop talking about this now?!" James exploded. "She and I are through! It's over; I lost!"

"Do you, umm… want to talk about it?" asked Sirius tentatively.

"Not especially," said James angrily.

"Ummm… ok, do you not want to go to Lily's party then? We can just skip it if you want…" Sirius offered with rare sensitivity.

"No, do what you want. I'm not going to let her rule my life anymore," stated James firmly. "Now what's the plan?" he asked, his face shining with fierce determination and excitement that only came from planning a prank that was going to require stealth, rule-breaking, and possible punishment.

While her classmates were planning how to defy Mrs. Potter's punishment on her two sons, (Sirius was considered another son to the Potters), Lily was with her parents, greeting the local dignitaries and snobs who were wishing her a happy birthday but knew neither how old she was nor when her actual birthday was.

An hour later she was mingling among the sons and daughters of the local snooty people in a ballroom adjacent to the one in which the adults were. The only differences in the two rooms, besides the size, were the music, which was much more contemporary than the traditional waltzes in the adults' room, the dancing, which went along with the respective music, and the lack of alcohol, at least that's what the adults thought. Besides these things, the teenagers were all wearing similar garments, constricting dresses one size too small and itchy tuxes that too many pieces for the boys to comprehend.

It was among these richly decorated garments made of silk and velvet that Lily first noticed the second set of unexpected guests that she had received that day. However, she was not able to get close to verify the identities, though she had a fairly good idea who would crash her party, because just then she was asked to dance by the son of some lord or duke she only knew in passing.

In fact, Lily didn't get another chance to investigate further for quite some time, as she was continuously asked to dance, though she was able to spot the boys who stuck out like a sore thumb every so often. But, finally, she skillfully avoided a guy who looked as though he was going to ask her to dance and she was able to walk over to the boys as quickly as her floor-length, six-pound dress and four inch heels would allow her.

Yet again, Lillian Evans was right. The four boys in front of her, dressed in ripped muggle jeans and varying shirts, were indeed the Marauders. "So you decided to crash my party huh? Were you so desperate for Saturday night plans?"

Sirius smirked, "Hey! I was invited! It's just these losers who decided to be chumps and tag along."

"I hate to burst your bubble Sirius, but you were never actually invited; you were just expected to attend because you lived here. Now you don't, so you were officially not invited," said Lily jokingly.

"But I was not invited in the first place, how could I now be not invited later?"

"Happy Birthday Lily," interrupted Remus as he noticed that Lily was ready to retort.

"Thanks, but my birthday was actually weeks ago."

"Then why are you having a party?" asked Peter.

"Because on my real birthday I'm in school, so my mother throws me a big party when I get home," explained Lily patiently. "So really, why are you guys here?"

"Sirius here thought that your party would need some help," said Remus with a scowl towards Sirius. "But if you want us to leave, we will."

"No, you don't have to leave. I don't mind that you're here at all, but just so you know, don't bother spiking the punch because a. it's already been spiked twice that I know of and b. the champagne is right next to it," said Lily smugly.

"Well there goes plan a!" joked Sirius.

"And remember that we're in a room full of muggles, so any magic would result in disciplinary actions from the Ministry."

"Wow, Lily you are no fun!"

"I know," said Lily as she stuck her tongue out at the perpetrator, Sirius.

Just then, the guy that Lily had previously outsmarted, caught up to her and said, "Lillian, you are proving to be very elusive tonight, but finally I have caught up to you and now you can dance with me."

"Was that a question?" asked Lily as she turned away from the Gryffindor boys.

"No… yes… ummm," the guys snickered at the young man standing in front of Lily squirmed under her intense gaze.

Lily sighed, "Sure I'll dance with you." Then she added to the guys behind her, "Please excuse me, I'll see you later."

After she left them, the Marauders burst out into laugher, earning them even more odd looks than they were already receiving.

As they were laughing a girl in a dress that was very low cut and beyond tight, walked up to the boys and in a high-pitched sneer said to them, "The servants entrance is in the back of the house; there is no need for you to have to go through the ballroom to get to the kitchens."

"Umm… we're not servants; we're guests," said Peter.

"Well I couldn't possibly tell by the state of your clothes," she said snootily.

"And we couldn't possibly tell that you don't have a very large stick stuck up your ass by your personality," said Sirius in a falsetto voice that imitated the girl's.

"Well I never!" she sniffed.

"Maybe you should look into an extraction, it might make you a more pleasant person," said Sirius.

The girl huffed again and walked away.

"Well that was rather rude," said Remus.

"Yeah she was wasn't she?"

"I was talking about you Sirius," said Remus harshly.

Oh," said Sirius rather dumbstruck. "Well she deserved it."

"Whatever," said Remus quietly.

Before there could be any more conversation between the boys yet another girl walked up to them, though she was dressed more conservatively in one sense; though the lime green color of her dress might have caused people to think otherwise.

"Hey, who are you? My name is Cindy! I don't believe we've ever met before! I know just about everyone but I don't think I know you guys! Though I haven't been to an Evans party in a couple of months... Are you new friends of Petunia? Or Lillian? Or are you friends of Daisy's? Isn't it kind of funny how they are all named after flowers? Though Lillian isn't exactly a flower, but lilies are! My mother thinks that it's kind of odd… though she thinks I'm odd too, and I am anything but odd!"

When Cindy paused to take a breath after her very long and very fast monologue, Remus stepped in so that she would stop talking! "I'm Remus, this is Sirius, that's James and that's Peter. We go to school with ummm Lillian."

"Wow, you have kind of funny names. Is that a requirement at the school you go to? I bet that would be a funny school if it only accepted people with weird names. I guess I wouldn't get in… Cindy is such a normal name! Though Cindy isn't my real name. My real name is Georgiana! But I don't think I'm a Georgiana! Do I look like a Georgiana to you?" she asked Remus.

"Ummm no?"

"I didn't think so either! I don't know what my parents were thinking when they named me! They were probably stoned. Yes, that must be it! Have you ever thought of your parents as getting stoned? I certainly have. Sometimes I think I'm adopted! Every time my mother tells me I'm not I can tell I am. It's like reverse psychology! She tells me I'm not and I then think I am!" Cindy/Georgiana let out a high-pitched, really annoying giggly laugh… like sound. Then, to the horror of all, she continued, "Funny how that works isn't it? I guess I don't know everyone because I don't know you guys! But wait I do know you guys! You're the guys with the funny names! I remember now… who are you? Get away from me! Where are you taking me! Help! Help! Whisky! Gin! Wine!" shrieked the girl suddenly.

The Marauders slowly moved away, fearing for their lives. The girl continued to shriek. She had moved onto to condiments now.

As they backed up, they literally ran in to someone.

"Oomph!" said the girl that Peter had run into.

Peter squealed. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to! It was an accident! Please don't hurt me!"

"Get a hold of yourself," said the girl as she adjusted her dress. "Who are you?"

Remus stepped in, "I'm Remus, and these guys are James, Sirius and that's Peter."

"I don't think I've seen you around before," said the girl. "Though I don't know half the people here. I'm Jane Rivers."

"A pleasure to meet you Jane," said Sirius with a bow and a flourish.

"Likewise I'm sure," she said dryly. After a brief pause, she said, "So who are you?"

"Friends of Lily Evans," said Peter. "We go to school with her."

"I always thought that she went to an all-girls school," said Jane.

"Nope, recently went co-ed," Sirius cut in smoothly. "Too boring without any guys there to spice it up."

"Sure," said Jane disbelievingly. "Whatever, I don't care."

"Well it was," said Peter defensively.

"How would you know if you weren't there?" challenged Jane. Then she looked behind the boys and seeing something suddenly asked Sirius before anyone could provide a retort to her previous question, "Hey do you want to dance with me?"

Taken aback, Sirius paused for a moment, shrugged and then said, "Sure, why not?"

So then Sirius left his three friends standing alone. However, they were not alone for long, because soon a group of six girls came over and began flirting with the remaining Marauders and then Sirius when he returned. Soon all four of them, even Peter, who wasn't usually a hit with the ladies, were dancing with very pretty girls.

An hour elapsed in this fashion; the boys didn't get one minute of rest because they were constantly swarmed and were too polite to turn down any offers. All of them were too busy to notice that their popularity was causing the other male attendees of the party to be overshadowed and under-appreciated.

At last, the boys managed to break free from the girls and all met up at the punch bowl to see if it really was spiked and if it wasn't to make it so. All four wore wide grins at their success, but Peter was the most excited of them all.

Sirius took a swig of the punch and said, "This isn't spiked! Lily may be crafty, but she isn't crafty enough!" And then he proceeded to dump a bottle of unidentified liquid that came out of his pocket into the fountain of punch.

Peter took a glass and only took a small sip before spluttering and saying, "What did you pour in there? Concentrated firewhiskey?"

"Precisely my dear Wormtail," said Sirius slyly.

"Everyone will be drunk within minutes," predicted Remus.

"That is the fun of the exercise."

"Who wants to give Evans a glass?" asked James.

"Not me," said Peter quickly. "She always knows when I'm up to something."

"Ummm, yes, she does seem to see through you," said Sirius thoughtfully. "She'll know that something is up if I give it to her too."

"I refuse to give Lily spiked punch at her birthday party," said Remus nobly.

"I'll do it," offered James.

"Yeah that won't be suspicious at all," said Remus sarcastically.

Fortunately for Lily, their plan was stalled by the arrival of seven rather angry-looking guys; however the effect was far from scary because they were all dressed pristinely in tuxes and many had parts in their hair that made it look like their mothers had dressed them.

"Can we help you?" asked Sirius as he took a half-step back to look at the new arrivals that did not look as if they wanted some punch.

The preppiest one stepped forward; he was obviously the leader of the pack and said, "What do you think you're doing here?"

"Define "here"," said James annoyingly. "Here as in on earth or in England or in this room or in this particular spot? Technically "here" could be anywhere really. It's quite a relative term."

"Here as in at this party you bumbling idiot!" said Mr. Preppy.

"Well, now that you have clarified," said Sirius. "We can tell you that we have been sampling the punch."

"No you simpleton! You're moving in on our territory and we don't appreciate it! We want you to leave now."

"The last time we checked," said Remus, speaking for the first time. "This wasn't your party, so you can't tell us to leave."

"And even if it was your party, we wouldn't leave," said Peter with the bravery he was only able to absorb from his friends.

"Not that we would be there in the first place," sneered James.

A fight most definitely would have broken out had Lily not stepped in at that very moment, a big and very fake smile gracing her face. "Hello everyone," she said with too much cheer in her voice. "Having fun are we?"

"Loads," said Sirius, not taking his gaze off of the group of boys in front of him that he knew, even though they were outnumbered, the Marauders could take them down in a matter of a few minutes.

"Oh good," said Lily. "Sirius I was wondering if you could do me a favor and talk with Daisy for a few minutes? She's incredibly bored here. Darcy, Elizabeth Bennet is beside herself looking for you. Remus, Cindy a.k.a. Georgiana is on a search for you; so I would start running towards the other end of the room if I were you. Peter, Tracy is wondering what happened to her glass of punch; Jack, Nicholas, Andrew, and Wilson, your respective girlfriends are off dancing with other guys, and Robbie your mother is searching frantically for you."

With just a few sentences Lily had effectively cleared the area of everyone except for James. She was just about to turn and leave, when he caught her wrist and said, "What, couldn't be bothered to come up with a lie for me?"

She looked down at her wrist and his grasp on it, but he didn't release her. He was angry and he needed to get it out.

She coolly stated, "I didn't think it was necessary since you were the only one left. My goal was to stop a fight from occurring and since you were the only one that was, theoretically, going to be left here I thought my goal would be accomplished."

"You may have stopped one argument but you provoked another. Can we talk somewhere?"

Lily churlishly replied, "Perhaps if you would let go of my wrist."

He dropped her hand as if it were burning him and then gestured for her to lead the way.

Lily led James quickly out of the ballroom, through the hallway, up a flight of stairs, down another hallway and into an empty bedroom.

"Quite a remote location," remarked James.

"Well I figured that whatever you felt the need to say to me would be loud and I don't relish the idea of a bunch of gossips overhearing it."

"What would make you think that?" asked James casually as he leaned up against one of the posts of the bed frame.

"You're mad at me."

"How would you possibly know that? You don't know anything about me. You have always just rejected me without any reason!"

"Reason? I think the fact that you torment people is reason enough not to want to go out with you! You are rude and arrogant and presumptuous!"

"You're grasping at straws now! I haven't hexed anyone without reason all year! And you know what, I did it for you! I was trying to impress you! It's always been about impressing you! But I'm getting sick and tired of trying to impress you when nothing is good enough for you because you are too close-minded to get over your set feelings about me!"

"Haven't you ever considered the fact that maybe I DO NOT WANT TO DATE YOU LIKE EVERYONE ELSE? HAS IT EVER OCCURRED TO YOU THAT IT IS YOUR FAULT I DON'T WANT TO DATE YOU BECAUSE YOUR EGO IS SO INSUFFERABLY LARGE AND YOU DISGUST ME?! YOU HAVE NEVER GIVEN ME A REASON TO CHANGE MY OPINION OF YOU! THEREFORE, I HAVEN'T!"

"WHY MUST YOU BE SO IMPOSSIBLE? I'M NOT THE GUY THAT YOU OBVIOUSLY THINK I AM! AND BESIDES I'VE WATCHED YOU CHAT HAPPILY WITH GUYS WHO ARE SO MUCH WORSE THAN I AM!"

"HOW WOULD YOU KNOW? YOU DON'T KNOW THEM AT ALL!"

"IT'S KIND OF OBVIOUS WHEN THEY GO AND CHAT YOU UP AND THEN STICK THEIR TONGUES DOWN THE THROAT OF THREE OTHER GIRLS FIVE MINUTES LATER!"

"WHY CAN'T YOU JUST LEAVE ME ALONE? I NEVER ASKED YOU TO LUST AFTER ME! GIVE IT UP POTTER! I REFUSE TO BE YOUR 'FLAVOR OF THE WEEK'!"

"Is that what you really think about me?"

"Potter, it's blatantly obvious to me that you don't take your relationships seriously. I have been on the many receiving end of blubbering rants against you far too many times to think anything else. I refuse to be one of those blubbering girls; not now and not EVER!"

"And here I was thinking that you just hated me because I was an insufferable git. Now I realize that you just are truly delusional and just don't want to see me in a better light! You want to hate me because you're scared."

"I am not scared of you!"

"I didn't say you were scared of me," smirked James. "But now I'm pretty sure that you are. You know this clears up a lot of things that confused me about our last conversation."

Lily grimaced; she had relived that conversation so many times in her head. It haunted her; she knew that she had let on too much. She didn't hate James, and now he knew it.

"So now I'm going to ask you again, have you ever felt anything but hatred and disgust for me?"

Lily straightened her posture and said very clearly and slowly, "No."

"Why won't you admit it?" asked James, who was clearly frustrated. That was not the answer he had expected; he had thought he was getting somewhere.

"There is nothing to admit! I'm done with this Potter! Just leave me alone!"

By now James was very confused. Last time he had talked with her, Lily had seemed almost remorseful that she was rejecting him again. That had of course angered him because she was just, in his mind, delaying the inevitable and getting pleasure from seeing him in pain. Now she seemed as if she really did just want to be left alone. What was with this girl and where did she get off being angry with _him_? He wasn't the one who had trampled her spirits on a constant basis.

"Would you make up your mind?! Last time we talked you seemed sad to turn me away and now you're just angry!"

"I'm going to clear things up now once and for all; it is in your best interest for you to stay away from me. Just get over your little infatuation with me so that we can both move on," said Lily while looking in James' general direction, but not really at him.

"But why Lily?! I don't understand what your problem is!"

"Just listen to me! Get over yourself for like five seconds and take someone's advice! You aren't always right you know!"

"AND NEITHER ARE YOU!"

"But in this case I am! So just go away and stay away!"

"FINE! I HOPE YOU END UP ALONE WITH A MILLION CATS!" yelled James childishly.

"And I hope that you end up with some dumb blonde who worships the ground you walk on and a million arrogant little kids with messy black hair," said Lily caustically as she left the room without waiting for him to remark any further.

"ARGG!" yelled James to the empty room as he kicked the wall closest to him and subsequently cursed it with most of the foul words in his extensive vocabulary. "Why must she be so bloody annoying?!"

"I don't know mate," said Sirius as he waltzed into the room with a girl James didn't recognize.

"Where did you come from?" asked James.

"Well when my sicko parents decided that they needed an heir…"

"I didn't mean that!"

The girl interrupted then, "We followed you, duh. It wasn't hard either; I can see why Lily dragged you so far away from everyone else. You are probably the only person I have ever met who can even compete with Lily for her lung capacity and sheer volume when yelling."

"Who's she?" James rudely asked.

"_I_ am Daisy Evans, Lily's younger sister and I am told that in your fantasy I would one day be your sister-in-law. Great start on the winning her family over endeavor," said Daisy sarcastically.

"You're a lot like her you know; sarcastic and bluntly honest," said Sirius admiringly.

"So I'm told," said Daisy, clearly pleased but trying to be nonchalant and cool about the whole thing.

"Why are you here?" asked James, in no mood for the antics of Sirius and the annoying little sister of the girl he desperately liked and hated at the same time.

"Curiosity," said Daisy. "I saw you and my sister sneaking off together and mentioned it to Sirius, who was also very intrigued, so we decided to follow you and see what was going on."

"Well how about you do something useful and tell me why your prissy, stuck-up sister won't just go out with me!" yelled James very loudly.

Daisy's happy countenance quickly slid off of her face. "Do you honestly not know then?"

"If I knew I wouldn't be asking!" growled James.

"I suppose you ought to know," said Daisy quietly.

"Is this what you wouldn't tell me in the car?" asked Sirius.

"Yeah, after I talked to you in the car, I grilled Lily for the information. Eventually she cracked, and I mean really cracked. It was awful. Are you sure you want to know because you won't like it."

James considered it for about 1.3 seconds and then said, "YES! I would love to know why she refuses to date me."

"It's really confusing and stuff but the way she explained it is that she doesn't really have a choice in matters right now. She said that she has to pick her battles and dating isn't one of her priorities. I think her top priority is staying in mother's good graces long enough so that she can go back to Hogwarts in the fall," explained Daisy gravely.

"Would your mum really not let her go back to Hogwarts?" asked Sirius.

"She's threatened it," said Daisy slowly. "She knows how much Lily loves it there. I don't really know if she has enough power over my dad to make him forbid her from going back. However, Lily isn't going to take the chance, not with Hogwarts."

"So why won't she date me? This story has been touching and all, but I just can't see how it affects me," said James like the spoiled little child he was.

"It's not that she doesn't want to; it's that she isn't allowed to," said Sirius slowly, looking to Daisy to make sure that he understood the situation correctly.

Daisy nodded and added, "That's why she seemed upset on your last day of school; she was upset because she knew she couldn't be with you. It was either you or Hogwarts. And now she's angry because she is living out what is forced on her instead of guys she could pick, like you. You just have to give her some time Potter and cut her some slack. She's had it rough, rougher than a rich, snobby jerk like you could ever imagine."

"I see my reputation precedes me," said James snidely.

Daisy, a look of fury on her face from James' attitude and the fact that he had hurt her older sister and role model, turned to Sirius and said, "You're wrong. It isn't about Lily not be allowed; it's about her not wanting to date such an insufferable prat like him." Then she looked back to James and loathingly said, "And I don't blame her for rejecting you; in fact, if I had a wand I probably would have hexed you across the Channel and back by now. The only part I'm confused about is the part where she feels regret for turning you down. You make me sick and don't you ever come near my sister again!"

With that parting sentiment, the emotional thirteen-year-old stalked out of the room.

"Well that went well," said Sirius sarcastically. "What is it about you that gets the Evans' women so riled up?"

"I dunno Padfoot," said James angrily. "But I'm done trying to figure it out. Let's round up Moony and Wormtail and head back home before my mom catches us out. I fully intend to heed Evans' advice; I am going to make the most of my summer by forgetting about her, and being grounded doesn't help that."

Sirius didn't know what to feel at first. But then, he realized that his first duty was to James, his best mate. Lily was going to have to be second; that was all there was to it.

"Sure mate," said Sirius. "But let's go out with a bang."

James smiled mischievously. "Do we ever go out any other way?"

**A/N. Ok, I guess you guys want an explanation huh? Well life has been pretty crazy right now… piles of projects and mountains of work… and I just got my braces on. So, needless to say, I'm not exactly a happy camper at the moment. But, I finally updated and I'm really, really, sorry for the long wait! However, your reviews all really, really, helped and made me feel guilty for not updating, so please keep it up! Who knows how long this chapter would have taken me if I had zero incentive!**


	5. Lily's Notsosecret Admirers

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Harry Potter or Harry Potter related copyrights.**

Three months later on September 1, at King's Cross Station on Platform 9¾, the shiny crimson Hogwarts Express waited, ready for its annual September journey. The whistle sounded its final call shrill and clear, cutting the crisp fall morning and then, soon after, the trip to school began.

While some young Hogwarts students were blowing kisses to the people they left behind on the platform, one young witch was walking down the train looking for the O.W.L. group. She had already stashed her stuff in the compartment with Marlene and Alice, and now she was heading to the meeting to summarize the summer's studying progress.

On her way there, she just happened to look into a compartment that held two boys that she had the extreme pleasure of being acquainted with, James Potter and Sirius Black, and of course four lovely ladies that were surrounding them.

Lily was about to roll her eyes and move on, when Sirius saw her and waved. This caught the attention of James, who strangely, didn't wave at all. Then, Sirius stood up and opened the door to the compartment and said, "Hey Lily, I haven't seen you all summer, why don't you come on in?"

Lily tried to protest, but Sirius ignored her plea and pulled her in anyways.

"Come on Lily; so tell me, how was the rest of your summer?"

"Terrible, I hated just about every minute of it except for about three weeks," replied Lily emotionlessly.

"No, Lily, you're supposed to say, 'my summer was great, how was yours Sirius?' No one is supposed to have a depressing summer, unless of course they live in the Black house. Now that makes for an awful summer," said Sirius jollily.

Lily smiled but didn't comment. An awkward silence fell upon the compartment. "I have to be going," Lily said finally.

"Going where? We're all stuck on this train for the next couple of hours, where do you have to go?" asked Sirius as Lily turned to leave.

"I have a meeting, I'll see you guys later," said Lily as she turned to go with a wave.

Sirius wasn't ready for her to leave just yet; something seemed off about Lily, and as her friend, he wanted to find out what it was. "A meeting? On the train?" Sirius said skeptically. "Oh I get it; you're Head Girl! I heard that the meeting isn't until later…" Sirius finished with a pointed look at James that Lily didn't understand.

"Actually I'm going to an O.W.L.s meeting," said Lily, ignoring the Head Girl comment.

James then spoke up suddenly from his seat between the two lovely ladies that had gotten to him first, "It's amazing how bad at lying you really are Evans," he said caustically. "We took our O.W.L.s two years ago."

"For your information Potter, I'm not talking about the tests fifth years take, I was referring to something else," she said coolly.

"Like what? How many things could possibly have the same initials?" James continued in the same disbelieving tone.

Lily sighed her newly perfected inaudible sigh, and said tiredly, "It's a study group."

"School hasn't started yet," James said.

"I know that."

"So there's nothing to study."

"It's just prep work right now," she said, her voice completely devoid of any emotion other than exhaustion.

James looked at Lily carefully. "What the hell happened to you?" he asked as he took in her drawn appearance and the thick layer of make-up that was trying to conceal it. James also couldn't help but notice that she wasn't yelling at him or giving him any of her usual biting remarks.

"I am afraid I have no idea of which you are speaking," she replied humbly.

"Okay Lily," said Sirius carefully. "I know this is meant to be a joke most of the time, but I am being completely serious, who are you and what happened to the real Lillian Evans?"

"Nothing, I'm fine."

"No you aren't," said Sirius.

"I assure you; I am perfectly fine. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a meeting to attend," said Lily as she left and walked quickly down the hallway.

"There's something off about her," Sirius commented as he sat back down between his lady friends.

"I didn't notice anything different about her," said the girl to Sirius' left jealously.

"Yeah," agreed the girl to his right, a friend of the girl to his left. "She's just being her stuck-up, snobby self."

Sirius looked at James, who hadn't flinched when Lily was insulted. Sirius was surprised, but he was downright shocked when James joined them, "I agree. You have to wonder who stuck a wand up her ass."

"I'm pretty sure she was just born that way," said unnamed girl number three.

"Definitely, she was just born under an unlucky star. No one is naturally unlucky enough to have hair that retched color, no friends, and such an awful personality," said the final female occupant.

The girls then proceeded to further bash Lily about everything; how her hair always looked like McGonagall's because it was in such a tight bun all the time, how she was a teacher's pet, and how she spent way to much time in the library are just a few examples of the many topics that were covered by the girls.

James and Sirius were a bit put off by how cruel the girls were being, but didn't say anything to contradict then directly. So, the hour until the Head's meeting, which James, as Head Boy, was required to attend, passed slowly, yet was unnoticed by either James or Sirius.

As Lily walked into the large front compartment fifteen minutes before noon, right after her OW.L. meeting, she sighed with relief. No one was there yet. It gave her plenty of time to go over what she needed to talk about at the meeting. Just as her letter had said, everything she needed was in a pile on the podium at the front of the room.

Lily had just finished reading through the instructions when the first couple of Prefects started to filter in. Lily could tell that they were fifth years because they looked scared and had entered in pairs according to their house. Lily smiled warmly at them and asked them to take seats in the large compartment. They did as they were instructed and sat down on the nicely cushioned benches.

By noon everyone was present and accounted for except Remus Lupin and James Potter. At two past twelve Remus showed up. Familiar with the drill he took a seat next to the other seventh-year Gryffindor Prefect that had replaced Lily, Jennifer Daniels.

Lily walked over to Remus at ten past noon and asked, "Remus, where's Potter?"

Remus shrugged, "How should I know? It's not like we're _friends_ or anything."

Lily looked at Remus concerned. "I thought you guys had resolved everything," she said with the first bit of real emotion in her voice in seven weeks.

"Yeah so did I. But I haven't seen them at all yet today; they didn't come to the usual compartment. And, they didn't invite me to go to Diagon Alley or anything all summer. So, I'm assuming that they only pretended to solve things to get us out of that room our mothers locked us in," said Remus bitterly. Lily could tell that he hadn't had someone to talk to all summer.

Lily looked at him with pity. "After the meeting, you can come sit with Marlene and Alice and me if you want. Peter's welcome as well."

"I think I'll take you up on that offer Lily; thanks, you're a great friend. And now, dear Head Girl of dear old Hogwarts- congratulations on that by the way- you might want to start the meeting," said Remus smiling.

"I suppose you're right Remus," said Lily with a sad smile.

Lily turned to walk to the front of the compartment, but Remus caught her wrist; Sirius wasn't the only one who noticed the not-so-subtle change in Lily.

"Something wrong Lily?"

"Not at all Remus," said Lily with a fake smile. "Everything is perfect."

Remus let her go, but wasn't convinced.

"Okay everyone, thank you for coming," said Lily as she stood behind the podium. "And without further ado, I will begin this meeting. My name is Lily Evans and I am Head Girl this year."

"Where's the Head Boy?" asked a Hufflepuff sixth year. "Isn't he supposed to be here too?"

"He's probably on his way, but I'm sure everyone has better places to be, so I'm just going to start the meeting now," said Lily. Then she continued, "I know that this is going to sound dumb, but we should get to know each other so that we can work together better. So we'll go around the room and just tell us your name, house and year. Remus please start."

"Well, I'm Remus Lupin," said Remus Lupin. "I'm a seventh year Gryffindor."

"Jennifer Daniels," remarked the girl to his left. "Also a seventh year Gryffindor."

On and on it went until everyone had introduced themselves.

"Now that that is done, we can get down to business," said Lily. "As Prefects this year, you are given a set of duties. This includes patrolling the halls at night, watching out for any trouble-makers, and planning school events. Any questions so far?"

Lily looked up from her parchment and when she didn't see any hands, she continued. "Okay then. Let's set up patrolling duties. Everyone needs to take one night a week. You patrol in pairs with people of your house, and there has to be two different houses patrolling every night. Another rule is that fifth years can not patrol by themselves. They must patrol on the same nights as either a pair of patrolling sixth years or a seventh years. Also, patrolling every night will be teachers and the Head Boy and I will patrol three nights a week. So now everyone sign up under the day of the week you would like. This is to be done in order of seniority. Seventh-years go first and then sixth years and so on. There is to be exactly two pairs of people to all seven days of the week. I will try to arrange the schedule so that everyone is happy, but it's unlikely, so please indicate alternative choices along with your first picks."

As Lily handed the sheet of parchment to a Ravenclaw seventh-year, a Slytherin sixth year by the name ofRodolphusLestrange said haughtily, "There are seven days in a week, correct?"

Lily nodded, not sure what that had to do anything.

"And there are 24 prefects, right?"

Again Lily nodded, not knowing what Rodolphus' point was.

"Well then that leaves one night without any people patrolling, now doesn't it?" sneered Lestrange.

"No it doesn't, because the Head Boy and I will also be patrolling on any of the days that only have two prefects," answered Lily coolly.

"Don't you mean that you will be patrolling?" asked Rodolphus trying to regain some of the dignity he had lost when a muggle-born had proved him wrong.

"Excuse me?" she asked calmly.

"I don't see the Head Boy anywhere, how can you be sure that he'll show up to patrol?"

"Wait a minute," said a Ravenclaw sixth-year. "Who is the Head Boy anyway?"

Just then James decided to grace the room with his presence. The time was 12:41, which Lily duly noted.

Lily introduced the Prefects to their Head Boy, whose identity had been made known to her by the packet on the podium which was addressed to the both of them, "Everyone meet your Head Boy for this year, James Potter."

James bowed, but no one clapped. "Tough crowd," he mumbled. "Now where were we?" asked James brightly.

"We were just discussing your level of dedication as Head Boy," said Sandra, one of the Ravenclaw seventh year prefects testily.

"Why would you doubt me?" asked James.

"You were forty-one minutes late," said the same Ravenclaw coldly.

"So I was fashionably late, big deal. This Head Boy thing is going to be a piece of cake."

"Potter, just resign now and let someone who is qualified take over," said Rodolphus Lestrange.

"Like you Lestrange?" challenged James.

Rodolphus pretended to think it over a minute and then said, "Yes, I suppose I would accept."

"I wasn't offering," said James scathingly.

Luckily Lily stepped in before it got ugly. "Potter, Rodolphus, both of you please stop it right now. Let's get back to business. I will finalize the patrolling schedule and give it to all of you at out next meeting. The last point on my agenda is to tell you that we will have meetings every other Monday at seven o'clock in the Library starting next Monday. Any questions?"

A handful of people raised their hands. Lily called on Ben Sander, a Gryffindor fifth-year who asked, "What time do patrols start and end?"

"They start at eight and end at ten," answered Lily.

Then she called on the next person who asked, "Are we planning any events this year?"

"We will discuss that at our next meeting," replied Lily.

"When is the first Hogsmeade weekend?" asked the next person.

"Potter and I will discuss it with Professor Dumbledore and get back to you so that you can post it in your common rooms."

The last person asked, "When do patrols start? Like what day, not what time."

"Monday," answered Lily. "Until then the Professors will patrol. Well I think that's it, Potter any closing statements you would like to make?" asked Lily.

"Nope, I'm good," said James, his tone casual, but his body was tense and he continued to stare at Lestrange hatefully.

"Good, then everyone I will see you on Monday."

After Lily's closing statement, everyone left except for Lily, who was waiting for Remus, who was waiting for James to see if James would explain his recent behavior.

"You coming Remus?" asked Lily as she gathered her stuff.

Remus looked at James directly with a cold stare and when he noticed that James was not going to be forthcoming with any apologies, said, "Yeah Lily, let's go."

James looked back at Remus in disbelief. Then he looked at Lily spitefully as she and Remus reached the door.

"And where are you two off to?" he asked nastily. "To find an empty compartment to go snog in?"

Lily turned around sharply, as did Remus. She opened her mouth to retort, but Remus got there first.

"Go take a long walk off of a short cliff Potter," spat Remus. "Come on Lily, let's get out of here."

James' jaw dropped as Remus put his arm gently around Lily's waist and directed her out of the compartment.

Once they were out of James' sight, Remus immediately dropped his arm from Lily's waist and said, "Ummmm, about all that…"

Lily just gave Remus a sort of half-smile and said, "Don't worry about it Remus."

They walked on in silence for a moment until Remus looked over at Lily and said, "You know I didn't mean anything by it, right? I mean, I just really wanted to hurt James at that moment and that's what came to me."

"Yeah I get it," said Lily strikingly. "We're just friends."

Remus looked at Lily more closely. "Yeah, we're just friends," he said slowly as he looked into Lily's haunted eyes.

"I'm glad we're friends Remus," said Lily suddenly and without precedent.

"Me too Lily," said Remus. Then he felt conflicted. Should he tell her that he was a werewolf? She was a close friend of his, and she was there for him after the whole Snape incident in June…

Lily noticed how uncomfortable Remus had become all of a sudden. "I wasn't looking for a confession Remus."

"Huh?"

"I wasn't looking for you to reveal your secret when I said that I'm glad we're friends," she clarified.

"What secret?" he asked her nervously.

"If I knew it wouldn't be a secret then, now would it?"

"No I suppose not, but what kind of secret is it if you know that it exists?"

"Still secretive. I know that you have a secret Remus, call it intuition if you will. But, if you don't want to tell me, then that's okay," Lily noticed that Remus suddenly relaxed. "So don't sweat it," she continued with a smile. "Tell me if you want to, if you ever want to, not because you think I want you to."

Lily gave him a small smile and then opened the door to the compartment which housed Marlene and Alice. Remus soon followed in after her; he had been so absorbed in his thoughts that he hadn't noticed that they had arrived at their destination.

Remus stayed with the three girls for the rest of the train ride. Occasionally other girls stopped by, and even a few guys. It was the guys who interested Remus, especially because of the murderous and jealous looks that he got from them. One really _interesting_ event involved a fifth year named Gilderoy Lockhart…

Mid-way through the train ride Gilderoy Lockheart sauntered into the compartment where Lily, Marly, Alice, Remus and one of the Ravenclaw sixth year prefects, Greg Williams, were sitting without knocking. Immediately he was met by the stares of all. He took the surprised looks that were aimed at his rudeness the wrong way; he had the audacity to think that they were shocked and excited to see him.

"Hello all," he said as he tried to impress them all with a huge grin that he considered flattering. To his credit, many of the girls at Hogwarts did consider him easy on the eyes and swooned at his feet. However, this mostly applied to the lower classmen; not the seventh years he was currently trying to impress.

Needless to say, Lily, Marly and Alice were far from impressed. They did manage to mutter greetings though out of politeness.

Their willingness to be polite just about evaporated when Gilderoy promptly took a seat between Lily and Marlene without being invited.

All restraint that the girls were clinging to didn't totally disappear until Gilderoy put an arm around Lily while smiling cheekily and triumphantly at Remus and Greg, who were sitting across from Lily and Marlene.

"Can we help you with something?" said Lily icily as she forcefully removed his arm.

"Yes I am sure that _you_ could," said Gilderoy in a voice he considered sexy. Lily just found it obnoxious.

"Sorry, I have a boyfriend," said Lily in a voice that came off as sickly sweet and totally rehearsed.

"Does he go to Hogwarts?" persisted Gilderoy.

"No," said Lily.

"I'm okay with that then. I don't mind being your man on the side!"

"Man?" scoffed Lily. "What are you? 14?"

"I'm 15!" he said as his voice cracked.

The rest of the compartment laughed.

"It's not that much of an age difference!" he squeaked.

Remus and Greg laughed even harder. Alice's quiet giggles became full-out chuckles. Marlene was almost in stitches.

"Look kid," said Lily sternly. "I think you had better just let this go, because it is never going to happen. Try for someone more your age."

Gilderoy refused to admit defeat. "I'm mature for my age!"

"So am I," said Lily annoyed. "Which is why we really wouldn't work out. I don't even know who you are!"

"What?" asked Gilderoy aghast. _Did someone really not know who he was? Was that even possible?_

"Sorry, I have no idea whatsoever."

"I'm Gilderoy Lockhart! I'm a fifth year (this sent Remus and the rest of the gang back into hysterics) in Hufflepuff."

"Look Gilderoy, I've tried being nice about this but now you're really starting to tick me off, so you had better go before I get really nasty."

"I'd move if I were you mate," said Remus, trying to stifle his laughter. "Ever heard of James Potter?"

Gilderoy nodded. Remus continued, "He's a pretty average dueler right?"

Gilderoy nodded furiously, "He's the best."

Lily scoffed.

"She," said Remus pointing at Lily. "Sent _him_ to the Hospital Wing last year. He ticked her off too."

Gilderoy quickly scampered out after that and rejoined his little fan club whom he had told to wait for him outside of the compartment.

The whole compartment, sans Lily, burst into laughter once more.

"A fifth year Lily! You just got hit on by a fifth year!" gasped Marlene while she was laughing.

"Yeah, yeah," said Lily dismissively. "He's not the youngest one."

"He's not?" asked Greg.

"Nope."

"So what's this about a boyfriend?" asked Alice slyly.

"That was just a ploy to get Lockhart out of here," stated Remus.

Lily looked down at her hands and couldn't help but smirk to herself.

Lily's smirk did not get by Marlene.

"Lillian Evans! Do you have a boyfriend?" asked Marlene loudly.

"Yes," said Lily quietly.

"What?" asked Greg and Remus at the same time.

"That's great Lily," said Alice kindly.

Marly laughed and said, "Oh how the mighty have fallen!"

"What do you mean Marlene?" asked Remus, very confused.

"You didn't know that Lily is like the female version of Black and Potter put together?" asked Marly.

"I am not!" protested Lily as she hit her friend playfully. "Don't tell them that! They'll get the wrong ideas!"

"You're telling me," said Greg. "Wow, weird mental images."

"Try living with them," said Remus. "Then you'll hear about their escapades."

"I am not like them!" said Lily fruitlessly.

"Sure Lily," said Remus pretending to be unconvinced.

"I'm not!"

"Don't worry Lily, we don't think any differently of you!" said Greg.

"Good," said Lily sulkily.

Remus could not let the subject drop. "So, Lily, if you're not like Sirius and James, then why would Marlene say that you were?"

"Ask her," said Lily.

"Well," said Marly slowly and tauntingly. "In the muggle world, Lily has quite a reputation."

"What kind of reputation?" asked Greg, his brow furrowed. He liked Lily, as more than a friend. They had been rather close for a few years, ever since Lily had helped him out with a Potions essay his third year.

"Lily's been known to make guys cry," said Alice simply.

"Hey!" said Marlene. "I was having fun there!"

"Far too much fun," scolded Alice.

"I haven't even gotten started yet," said Marlene with a Cheshire cat-like grin.

"I think I'll go for a walk," said Lily as she abruptly rose from her seat. "By all means go on talking about me and my very personal love life while I'm gone," she added sarcastically on her way out.

"Well, little Miss Lillian is very well known in the muggle world and very desired. Her father is a lawyer and a couple of years ago he got a big case, a really, really big case," began Marlene.

"It involved the royal family and everything," Alice piped up.

"Well, he won it and got a lot of money and fame and stuff from the royal family. Lily got this great big house in northern England, and her father nearly retired. He only does small local cases now. Her family also got thrust into the limelight, the social limelight. Ever since then, it's been nothing but parties and dates for Lily."

"Her mom sets her up on tons of dates all the time. She's just hoping that Lily will find some rich guy and settle down," said Alice.

Marlene muttered some obscenities under her breath and then continued, "Yup. Mr. Evans isn't too thrilled; he forbids Mrs. Evans from forcing Lily to marry anyone. So, Mrs. Evans just sets her up with guys only of her choosing and figures that Lily is bound to like one of them enough one day."

"She's only seventeen for Merlin's sake!" shouted Greg.

"That was two years ago when it all started," said Alice. "She has blown them all off until now. I wonder what was different about this one…"

"And she makes them cry?" asked Remus with a small chuckle.

"You don't believe us?" asked Marly harshly.

"Well, no, not really," said Remus slowly.

"Not everyone is quite as taken with her as Potter is," said Marlene. "And only half of them are as egotistical. Therefore, many of them can not stand up to her razor sharp comments."

"I do remember seeing her intimidate some guy at her birthday party," said Remus thoughtfully.

"She invited you to her birthday party?" asked Greg skeptically.

"Invited is such a loose term," said Remus in the Marauder tone; the one used to escape punishment from McGonagall.

"You crashed her birthday party?" questioned Alice.

"Yeah kinda," said Remus sheepishly.

"Remus Lupin! I, for one, am shocked!" said Marlene playfully. "And all this time I thought you were the good influence among the Marauders."

"That's what most people think," said Peter as he entered the compartment with a load of candy in his arms and Pumpkin Pasties spilling out of his pockets.

"I see you found the trolley lady," said Marlene with disdain.

"Yup!" said Peter through a mouthful of chocolate frog. "Did you know that if you buy twenty chocolate frogs, you get the twenty-first free?"

"No, I had no idea," said Alice kindly as she saw that Marly was about to say something cruel.

"Where's Evans?" asked Peter as he noticed the compartment's missing occupant.

"Went for a walk," said Greg simply. "In fact, I think a walk sounds like a wonderful idea. I think I'll join her. See you guys later!"

As soon as Greg had left the compartment, Remus commented, "I think he has a crush on Lily."

"Who doesn't?" snorted Peter as he ruffled through his purchases.

When Peter looked up, he found everyone's eyes on him. "What? You have to admit she's one hot girl! Come on, back me up here Remus! You know you think so too!"

Gazes shifted to Remus, who looked uncomfortable. He scratched the back of his head thoughtfully and looked down at the floor. Then he mumbled something incoherent.

"What was that Remus?" asked Marlene sweetly. "I don't think we heard you."

"Yes! Alright! I think she's incredibly attractive! Are you all happy now!" Remus shouted.

Marlene squealed girlishly and wore a large grin. "You'd be the perfect couple! I love this idea!"

"Only problems are that James would kill me and just a few hours ago, I told her we were just friends. And that's exactly how she feels about me and how I feel about her. We aren't cut out for dating Marlene; we're just not that compatible.

"Sure, sure," said Marlene still with a wicked look on her face.

"Don't get any ideas Marly," warned Alice. "Look at where your last matchmaking scheme ended up!"

"It wasn't a match-making scheme… at first," she added when she saw Alice's look of disbelief.

"Well according to Lily, it really messed stuff up between her and James!" Alice put her hands over her mouth as she realized two seconds too late that James' best friend was sitting right next to her. And when she looked, she saw Remus' eyebrows quirked questioningly.

"Did she also tell you about the row she and James had at her birthday party?" asked Remus.

"It was a rough one," Peter contributed. "Me and Remus heard it all the way down the hall."

"Yeah, she told us about that too," said Alice.

"It should make for a very interesting year with them both being Heads," said Remus.

It finally dawned on Marlene and Alice. They both gasped and Marlene said, "I had heard that Potter was Head Boy and Lily wrote to me saying that she was Head Girl, but I never connected the two!"

"Me neither!"

"What was the meeting like?" Peter asked Remus.

"Well, he came in forty minutes late, so they weren't together for long and after that she and I just left. She called him 'Potter' the whole time though," said Remus.

"Are you people done talking about me yet?" asked Lily as she returned to the compartment alone.

"Yeah, you're not _that_ interesting of a subject," lied Marlene.

"Where's Williams?" asked Remus curiously.

"Yeah, did he ask you out?" asked Marlene shamelessly.

"Marlene!" scolded Alice.

"Yeah he did, how did you guys know?"

"It was soooo obvious that he likes you!" said Marlene. "He didn't come in here to see Remus!"

"Neither did Henry, Kevin, Ben, Asher, or Philip," Alice added giggling.

"Oh leave me alone you two!" said Lily.

"Did you let him down more gently than Lockhart?" asked Remus.

"Yeah, but I don't think he'll be asking me for Potioms help anymore."

"Poor deluded little Ravenclaw…" said Marlene shaking her head. "Thought he had a shot with Lily Evans."

"Marlene! Stop that!"

"It's true Lily, you are one of the most unattainable girls at Hogwarts," said Marlene. "Don't you agree Remus?"

"You don't have to answer that Remus," said Lily as he stumbled over himself.

"What? Yes he does," insisted Marlene.

"No he doesn't," insisted Lily.

"Come on Remus, just answer the question," said Marlene, changing her tactics.

"You really don't have to," Lily said quietly to Remus.

"I don't see what the problem is," said Marlene. "What exactly do you think he's going to say Lily?"

"He's obviously uncomfortable with the question. It's not fair of you to ask him stuff like that!"

"I just wanted a guy's opinion on the subject Lily."

"Can we **stop** talking about me now? I thought I wasn't an interesting subject," she said snidely.

"Fine, fine," said Marlene finally admitting defeat.

The compartment lapsed into silence until Remus quietly said, "Marlene was right though Lily, for the record."

Lily looked up at Remus and fixed her startling green eyes upon him. He found that he couldn't hold her intense gaze and quickly shifted his to the floor.

"Thanks Remus," said Lily in a quiet, almost shy voice.

Alice alleviated some of the awkwardness from the room by inquiring about a safe topic, their summer homework.

The rest of the train ride passed pleasantly and without anymore unwelcome interruptions. Remus, however, couldn't get Lily's eyes out of his mind. Her gaze was so unnerving for him and he didn't know why. Luckily for him, he was able to immediately eliminate a crush on her as the cause. He had gone through that in third year. He was completely over her now. They were just friends; he hadn't felt any kind of stronger feelings, more-than-friends feelings, for her when she had put his arm around her waist. It was a good thing too, Remus told himself. There was more to Lily Evans than was currently meeting the eye and he wasn't sure if he could handle a relationship with her at the moment. It seemed to him that she was barely handling _herself_ right now.

Remus was broken out of his deep thoughts when he heard Marlene calling his name in a sing-songy voice.

"Where were you? Pluto?" asked Marlene when she realized she had finally gotten his attention.

"Just thinking," he replied.

"So were we, and we were wondering why you and Peter aren't with dumb and dumber."

"Not that we don't enjoy your company," said Alice gently.

"James and Sirius?" asked Remus. The girls all nodded. "They're entertaining company," he said darkly.

The eyebrows of all three girls went up.

"Remus, I thought that the four of you always rode on the train together," said Lily.

"Yeah we did," said Remus as he glanced over at Peter who was slumped against the wall, asleep, with chocolate and other sugary substances coating the area around his mouth and hands. "But I guess a lot of things changed this summer," sighed Remus.

"Like what?" asked Marlene, who was taking advantage of Peter being asleep and reaching out to grab one of Peter's licorice wands.

As she was slowly pulling it out from underneath his folded arms, he suddenly awoke and shrieked, "What are you doing?!"

Marlene was so surprised that she fell off of her seat. "It's just one wand!"

"No!" said Peter stubbornly. "They're mine!"

"You have seven Pettigrew! Give me one!" said Marlene as she reached up to grab one.

Peter grabbed the other end and said, "NO! I had to go find the trolley lady myself to get them! Go get one for yourself!"

"Anything off the trolley dears?" asked the woman in question.

"Nope I think we're all set in here," said Lily with a brief strike of minor cruelty.

The woman moved on as Marlene scrambled up from her position on the floor and hurriedly looked around for her purse. "No wait!" she screeched. "I need some sugar!"

Marlene sped out of the compartment as her fellow Gryffindors laughed at her. She returned shortly with several licorice wands clutched in her hands. As she sat down again, she stuck her tongue out maturely at Peter.

Midway through one wand, Marlene returned to their previous conversation, "so what changed this summer Remus?"

"Oh, I ahhh, I dunno really," he said vaguely. "Just you know, stuff. Sirius and James went off more with girls than they wanted to plan pranks or play Quidditch. I didn't see much of them at all this holiday."

Remus was monitoring Lily closely to see how she would react to his news about James' newly rekindled dating life. He had toned it down for her towards the end of sixth year, but now he was busier in that aspect of his life than ever.

Lily just stared out of the window at the passing landscape. It was getting dark now; they were almost there.

"Yeah," said Marlene as she took another chunk out of her favorite candy. "Who was he dating?"

"Dunno," said Remus. "He didn't tell me."

"But he was busy every Friday night, I'll tell you that," said Peter laughing. "Saturdays too… and Sundays… Monday through Thursday were pretty booked too!"

No one else found the situation funny.

Alice gently asked Lily, "Are you okay Lily?"

"Pefect," said Lily not taking her eyes off of the forests in they were speeding through. The forests were progressively becoming wilder and with each passing minute, Lily found that was she was looking at more accurately depicted what she imagined her mind must look like. "He's finally listened to me."

"What?" asked Remus.

"I told him to go off on his summer holidays and snog some blondes in bikinis so that he would forget entirely about me," said Lily in the same even tone. She still refused to look her classmates in the eye.

"Why would you tell him that?" asked Peter.

Lily didn't answer right away, but then she finally said, "He's not right for me. He wouldn't understand my life, what I go through."

"And you're new boyfriend is right for you?" asked Remus skeptically. With Remus it wasn't so obvious, but he was still fiercely protective of his best friends.

"Yes."

"Is he a muggle?" asked Peter.

"No."

"Did you meet him through your mom?"

"Yes."

"But he's a wizard?"

"Pure-blooded."

"How does that work?"

"Adopted."

"How old is he?"

"20."

"Did he go to Hogwarts?"

"No."

"Where'd he go?"

"America."

"Are we going to get more than one-word answers out of you?" asked Marly smiling.

"No," said Lily returning the grin.

"Why not?" asked Alice. "Why are you so secretive about this new boyfriend of yours?"

"Yeah! I want to give the man a trophy for actually managing to snag Lillian Evans!" said Marlene.

"Plaques are easier to clean," Lily pointed out with a smirk to herself.

"Yeah, but how did you know that?" asked Remus.

"That's my secret," said Lily with a bigger smirk. "So you're going to give Richard a trophy?"

"Ah so boyfriend has a name!" said Marlene with pleasure as Lily realized her mistake and covered her mouth with her hands.

"Does he have a last name to go with that first one?" asked Remus.

"Nope, he's like those famous people who go around with only their first names! You don't ask the Queen what her last name is, now do you?" retorted Lily.

"Are you dating the king Lily?" asked Peter in awe.

Lily looked at him like he was crazy, "No Peter, I'm not dating any member of the royal family… right now at least."

"Lily you sound as if you have dated someone in the royal family before…" said Remus with a laugh.

The girls looked at him strangely, "What? I thought you agreed that Lily was unattainable and earlier were saying that she was _very attractive_," said Marly. She was, like the Marauders, fiercely defensive when it came to her friends. "Are you now saying that she isn't _good enough_ to date royalty?"

Remus was left gaping; Lily blushed and said as humbly as she could manage, "It's not like I'm royalty or anything, so I guess it's a fair assumption, but my dad did a favor for the royal family a few years ago, so I kind of know them personally."

Then Lily perked up a bit and said, "In fact Andy, I mean, Prince Andrew, is only a year younger than us."

"You call the muggle prince Andy!" exclaimed Peter. "My mother was raised in a half-muggle, half-wizarding house and that's how she raised me, so I know a bit about the royal family," Peter explained when he was met with their stares. "She'd be so jealous…"

"It's no big deal," said Lily. Then she quickly changed the subject, "We should probably get changed into our robes now; it looks like we're almost there."

"Yeah," said Remus. "Come on Pete, let's just go back to our compartment. We'll see you lovely ladies at the feast!"

The boys left and Marlene immediately exclaimed, "I thought they would never leave! We seriously need some girl talk!"

As the boys walked down the hallway Peter said, "Wow, Evans and the Prince of England… Who would have thought it? Prongs is soooo out of his league!"

Remus chuckled. _Yes, James Potter was certainly rich, but he had nothing on the Prince of England. Potter Mansion sure wasn't the same as Buckingham Palace. _

As he pulled his robes over his head, Remus smiled. He had thought that train ride was going to be disastrous when he had first seen Sirius and James off with a bunch of girls instead of with him and Peter, but then Lily came to the his rescue again and the ride turned out to be quite pleasurable. One thing was bothering Remus though, what exactly was tormenting Lily? She was different, far different from the previous year and even a little different than the Lily he had seen at her birthday party. And, Remus and Lily had had many conversations on their patrols, so he had thought he had known her at least fairly well. So then why was she more of a mystery to him now than she was at the beginning of fifth year?

Remus' thoughts as he tied his tie drifted to the two absent Marauders. Remus decided that he was angry at being ditched all summer and then for the entire train ride. He was even glad that he had gotten back at James by feeding James' insecurities about Lily. It was unlike Remus to be so rash and vengeful, but it had felt so good when he saw James' shocked face. Remus nearly laughed out loud as he sat down to read his current novel until they arrived in Hogsmeade.

As Lily had predicted, they soon arrived in Hogsmeade Station. Lily, Marlene and Alice were stuck in a carriage with a couple of awe-struck second-years and didn't see any of the Marauders until the feast when Remus and Peter sought them out and sat with them. They were nowhere near to Sirius or James, Lily noted. There was tension among the Gryffindor seventh year boys and it wasn't the same fight from the end of the previous year, Lily guessed, because the sides had switched. _This should make for a very different year_, thought Lily.

**A/N. I was kind of disappointed by the lack of reviews for the last chapter, but I'm hoping that you will make up for it with this chapter! Right? Please review, it makes all the difference!**


	6. A Prank, A Confession and Two Arguments

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Harry Potter or Harry Potter related copyrights.**

"Come on guys, you gotta get up," Peter begged Sirius and James. Sirius and James always slept until the very last moment, especially on school days, and it was Remus and Peter's job to get them up every morning. Mostly Remus did the waking up and Peter just pitched in and did whatever he was told. However, only Peter had spoken to Remus since the train ride the day before and Sirius and James hadn't even seen him since he had dashed out of the Great Hall immediately following the feast after sitting with Lily and her friends. And now there was no sign of Remus and the curtains around his bed were drawn.

"Come on, we'll be late for breakfast!" yelled Peter fruitlessly. "Remus, please help me!"

There was no response, so Peter went over to Remus' bed and pulled the curtains aside. No one was in there and the bed was made.

Peter had no choice but to try and shake the boys seeing as words weren't working. He soon found out that that was a mistake however, for as soon as he laid a hand on James' shoulder, he got a pillow in the face. Attempting to arouse Sirius was even worse. Peter didn't even get all the way to the side of the bed before Sirius grabbed the nearest object from his nightstand, which was a candlestick holder, and chucked it at Peter. It hit him on the side of the head and he had to struggle not to cry. It really hurt, but he couldn't let the guys know that, so he quickly left the room to seek reinforcements.

Peter got all the way down to the Great Hall before he found someone who was likely to take on the great and dangerous task of waking two of the Marauders. Unfortunately that person was Remus. Peter was very relieved to see his friend. So he quickly joined Remus, Lily, Alice, Marlene, and two of their Ravenclaw friends, Laura and Julie for breakfast.

"Good morning everyone," said Peter as he sat down across from Remus and next to Marlene.

All conversation stopped.

"What's wrong?" asked Peter nervously.

Marlene spoke first, "What is that nasty-looking bruise from?"

Peter put his hand up to the spot where the candlestick had hit him and winced. There was a bump there and it hurt. "Umm… well, I made the mistake of trying to wake up James and Sirius on my own."

"And what happened?" asked Lily looking as if she would kill for half a reason to go up to the seventh year boys' dormitories to throw James out a window.

"Well," said Peter obviously enjoying the attention. "I went to shake James first; he's usually easier than Sirius by far."

"What did he do to you?" asked Lily curiously.

"Just hit me in the face with a pillow," said Peter acting as if he had just taken down a troll single-handedly.

The girls oohed and aahed for him.

"And then what?" asked Alice.

"Well then I went over to shake Sirius and well, let's just say I didn't make it all the way over to the bed. I soon found myself in closer contact with a candlestick holder than I ever want to be again."

"Are they still asleep then?" asked Laura as she saw that no one had followed Peter.

"Yeah, I didn't really want to stick around after I was attacked."

"I wouldn't either," said Julie kindly. "Big brutes."

"So Remus, are you going to help me wake them?" asked Peter hopefully.

"No, I am not and I wouldn't count on my help in the coming weeks either. You are on your own if you really want to wake them," said Remus spitefully. "They abandoned us, so I'm abandoning them."

"Do you hate me too?" asked Peter as if he were a small child being told that his older brother no longer wanted to play with him because he was too little.

"Hate is a very strong word, Peter." Peter perked up a little. "I don't hate them; that is not to say that we are on friendly standard, and I certainly don't hate you. You didn't abandon me."

The girls then turned back to their conversation. Remus turned back to his book; Peter dug into his breakfast whole-heartedly.

Peter was left with his thoughts for company. He wondered if James and Sirius were going to be able to get up. They hadn't gotten up on their own since the third week of first year when they discovered that Remus was a natural early-riser. Peter always dreaded the days after a full moon when he was on his own, but usually the two dark-haired boys were too tired to throw anything or resist him much. Usually pushing them into a cold shower and then running as fast as he could in his animagus form worked.

Peter was pulled out of his thoughts by Professor McGonagall. She was saying something to him, but he didn't know what it was. And then she finished and appeared to be waiting for an answer.

"I'm sorry Professor, but it's really early and I didn't catch a word you said," he apologized.

Professor McGonagall looked at him sternly but repeated herself anyway. "Here is your timetable for this year Mr. Pettigrew. Where are Mr. Potter and Mr. Black? They need their timetables too."

"They, umm, they umm, are sleeping in?" Why did the things Peter say always come out as questions?

"I'm sure that they will be down shortly Professor," said Remus. "If you like you could leave their timetables here for them."

The Transfiguration teacher nodded and put the two extra pieces of parchment next to Remus' breakfast plate and moved on down the table. She knew of the boys' friendship and she also knew that Remus was a trustworthy and responsible person and would make sure that his friends would get the needed schedules.

"I'll give them to them if you want," offered Alice. "Like if you don't want to see them or anything."

"No, I'll do it," said Peter. He looked down at his timetable. "I have History of Magic and then a free block so I'll bring them up then and have another go at getting them up."

Remus nodded and then put his schedule on the table to be compared to the rest of the group's.

Soon it was time for everyone to head to their classes. First up for Gryffindors and Ravenclaws that morning was History of Magic. History was Peter's best subject, he just had a knack for remembering names and dates that even Remus didn't possess, so Peter joined Remus and the girls, sans Lily and Julie who had a free block that morning because they had dropped History of Magic, to go to the N.E.W.T.'s level class.

James and Sirius were supposed to be in the class also, but they didn't appear. They also didn't even appear in the next class that they shared with Remus, Lily, Alice and Marlene, which was Potions, until there was only twenty minutes left of the class period.

Lily and Remus were working together on a complicated poison antidote when James and Sirius finally arrived out of breath and looking very disgruntled and very much like they had just rolled out of bed.

"Sorry we're late Professor," apologized Sirius. "But we were just so sick this morning! Barfing our brains out we were."

"Yup," said James picking up on the lie. "That is until we remembered a Potion that you had taught us about back in third year."

"Yup, we always keep a freshly-brewed stash under our beds just in case."

"So, yeah, we took that potion and we cured just like that," said James as Sirius snapped his fingers to emphasize the point.

"And then we rushed right down here to come to your class so that we could learn more about such valuable, life-saving potions," gushed Sirius.

Slughorn was obviously pleased by the boys' flattery and was completely ignorant to the bold-faced lie they had just told him. "Well, I'm glad that you remember the things I teach! It's nice to know that someone other than Miss Evans pays attention to what I say," said Slughorn as he cast an admiring glance towards his favorite pupil.

"I agree Professor," said Lily. "Now Potter, what potion is it that you used? I'm sure that we would all like to keep some under our beds, seeing as it would be so helpful, just in case we suddenly felt a need to throw up right before classes start."

"Oh yes boys, please do tell us which one you used so I may make a point to tell my third years of its importance and how it may be used in everyday situations," said the Professor, willing to brag about his older students to his younger students any day, especially one with parents so influential in the wizarding world as James'.

"Umm, well we just call it 'the potion'," covered Sirius quickly.

"Yeah, whenever anyone mentions 'the potion', we all know which one they are talking about, because it is so important to us," continued James.

"Yup, single most important thing in our lives."

"Next to my broom in my heart."

"What kind of broom do you have Potter?" asked Lily.

"A Swiftrider 3," replied James without a moment's hesitation. "Why?"

"Because I find it odd that you can't remember the name of a potion that you love as much as your broom, yet you can remember the model of the broom," replied Lily.

"Really Lily, I don't see the point of this conversation. We are just wasting precious class time when we could be learning important life-saving skills," said Sirius with a pointed glance toward Lily.

"Yes, yes," said Professor Slughorn. "Now boys, we were concocting the very important antidote for the poison, Mihelabye. I'm sure you are both well aware of the poison and its antidote and since you have both used your Potions skills once already this morning, I think that it is only fair that you both get top marks for the potion and are allowed to get started on your homework for the night. It's on the board."

Lily scowled at both of the boys when she heard the teacher's announcement. Sirius silently dared Lily to protest to the solution Slughorn had come up with. James just waved back and leaned back in his chair. Lily flicked her wand and James' chair fell out from under him and he landed on the floor, hard.

"Is there a problem Mr. Potter?" asked Professor Slughorn good-naturedly.

"No, Professor, not at all," said James as he got up from the ground. "It's just that in my excitement over the essay I was about to compose I reached into my bag for the necessary items too quickly and lost my balance."

"Ah, I see." Then the Potions Professor chuckled and said, "Please contain the enjoyment that you get from your studies to a minimum and channel it into your essays. I wouldn't want to lose a student of your potential to a head injury."

James nodded and proceeded to get out a quill and a piece of parchment, not to write an essay, but to write a few notes to his friends, not that the Professor needed to know that.

Meanwhile Sirius had buried his head in his arms in an attempt to quiet his laughter. It worked to a certain extent, but James could still hear his best friend, so very shortly, Sirius found himself in a position similar to the one that James had recently abandoned.

"Mr. Black is there a reason that _you_ are on the floor?" asked the instructor of the class, once more interrupted from his work of over-seeing his pupils.

"Yes sir, but I don't think that this is the place to discuss my intestinal problems," said Sirius gravely. "There are ladies present you know," he added with a flashy grin at all of the girls present. The girls giggled and waved to him discretely.

"Oh yes, Mr. Black, I see," said Slughorn awkwardly. "Do you need a pass to see Madame Pomfrey?"

"No sir, I have already been to see the lovely Poppy. Alas! There is nothing she can do to alleviate the daily pain that I experience from my condition!" said Sirius dramatically. "It is just something that I must live with and suffer!"

It was James's turn to hide his laughter.

"Well, Mr. Black, I'd say that you handle it very well," said Slughorn. "Therefore I will excuse you from tonight's essay so that you can just relax and try to find some relief."

Sirius grinned widely. "Thank you sir, my intestines appreciate your kind gesture."

James had suddenly stopped laughing at the sound of an excused homework assignment and had snapped his head right up. His hand shot right up a moment later. When he was called upon he said, "Professor, did I ever tell you about the rare and very painful disease that I inherited from my mother?" Slughorn shook his head. "Well it's an ailment that makes it very difficult to concentrate on my studies. I, well, you see, I have problems with my kidneys. Yes, they trouble me constantly."

Slughorn murmured an apology for James' bad luck and excused him also. Then when he turned his attention to the rest of the class, (except for Remus, Severus Snape, and Lily who were above faking illnesses to get out of assignments) who had their hands raised, James and Sirius high-fived each other.

Then while Slughorn was further distracted by hearing of the horrible maladies that plagued his pupils, James threw a note at Remus.

Remus' note read:

_Moony,_

_What's up with you? Where were you on the train and at the feast? And where were you this morning? Not that we minded, but we missed History and part of Potions! Not that that didn't end well… So… yeah. See you at lunch._

_Padfoot and Prongs_

The reply was:

_James and Sirius,_

_Did you two honestly think that I would come crawling back to you after you just abandoned me all summer and yesterday? Just to make things clear, I'm not. So get used to making up fake illnesses about your internal organs because I am no longer going to wake either of you up. And Sirius, I suggest that, in the future, you refrain from throwing heavy objects at your remaining friends. And, while you may 'see' me at lunch, I hope that I will not be sitting anywhere near either of you._

_Remus Lupin_

James read the response first and then handed it off to Sirius to read.

"What's with him?" James mouthed to Sirius as he pointed to Remus.

"Dunno," replied Sirius quietly.

The next thing they knew, the bell rang and they still weren't sure why Remus was avoiding them and hanging out with Lily. Speaking of the which, Lily walked over to their table as soon as she had gathered her stuff.

"Head's Meeting with Dumbledore tonight. His office, 7:00, make an effort and don't be late for once!" said Lily testily before she continued on with Remus and her other friends without waiting for a reply from James.

"Well we _know_ why Lily hates you, but I wonder why Remus is hanging out with her instead of us," Sirius mused as he slung his bag over his shoulder and left the dungeons with James.

"Do you think they're going out?" asked James trying, and failing, to keep the tones of jealous and anxiety out of his voice.

"Nah!" said Sirius, trying to reassure his friend, whom he knew had not quite gotten over Lily, no matter how many girls he had gone out with that previous summer. "They've been friends for too long for that! He could've had his shot with her years ago!"

"Yeah, I suppose you're right…" James admitted.

"Though they are pretty similar, have a lot in common, get along much better than you could ever hope for…" said Sirius who couldn't resist the urge to taunt his friend. He took one long at James' downtrodden face and broke out in laughter. "I thought you were over that certain red-head!"

"I am!"

"Obviously not mate. You should have seen your face! Priceless I tell you!"

James mumbled under his breath as they entered the Great Hall, and as was his habit, looked around for Lily. He didn't see her anywhere. Suspiciously, he didn't see Remus either, though he **did** see Marlene and Alice chatting at the Gryffindor table.

James dragged Sirius over to sit with them and as he sat down, he said, "Hey ladies, how's it going?"

"Take your charms elsewhere Potter," said Marly angrily. "I'd actually like to keep my appetite if you don't mind."

"Oh touchy this afternoon, huh McKinnon?" said Sirius smoothly.

"You're not any better Black," spat Marlene.

"Actually the general consensus is that…"

"Sirius! We're eating here!" said Alice. "We do **not** want to hear about any of your 'achievements'."

"And before you make some dirty comment Black," hissed Marlene. "I would shut your mouth because I do not mind hexing you and I will willingly serve whatever detention McGonagall dishes out for doing it."

Sirius gulped and shut his mouth. He knew what Marlene was capable of and she seemed royally pissed about something, so he wasn't willing to test her.

"So where are Remus and Evans?" asked James conversationally. "Didn't they leave with you?"

"They went back to the Tower so that Remus could get a book he was telling Lily about," Peter piped up.

Marly sighed, shook her head and said, "Pettigrew! What happened to the plan?"

Peter squeaked, "Oops, sorry!"

Sirius laughed, "We didn't see you there Wormtail! How's it going?"

"Fine," said Peter simply.

"So what was your initial plan McKinnon?" asked James of the girl he had known from a very young age.

Marlene smiled evilly, "We were going to tell you that they were off snogging in the empty classroom on the third floor, but I'm sure such worldly gentlemen as yourself know what 'getting a book from the tower' means."

Both Sirius and James spat out the pumpkin juice that they were in the process of swallowing, unfortunately all over Alice and Marlene.

"Ewww! You prats!" exclaimed Marlene as she wiped the sticky juice off of her face. "Now I need to go change! Well I would, if I weren't afraid of interrupting something," she added in a sweet voice.

"Are you serious?" asked James with a warning glance at Sirius not to make any puns.

"About what?" asked Alice as she tried to get the juice off of her face as well. "Needing to change or Remus and Lily's new relationship?"

"The-the last one," stammered Sirius. He was as surprised as James was; going after Lily in a romantic sense was nearly treason in the Marauder group.

"I think that says it all," said Marlene pointedly as she looked towards the doors to the Great Hall. Remus and Lily were walking in together and Lily was excitedly talking to him. But what sealed the deal was the fact that they were _holding hands_.

James looked very put out and after staring with his mouth open for a while, he turned to his lunch and ate as if it were a contest. Sirius just kept staring as if he couldn't believe it; he had never really pictured Lily and Remus together.

Thus, neither of the boys noticed that Marlene and Alice were exchanging a triumphant glance and high-fiving each other under the table.

"Hi everyone," said Lily as she and Remus sat down on the same side of the table as the other three Marauders, Lily in the middle of James and Remus.

"Did you get that book you wanted?" asked Marlene with a huge grin.

Lily and Remus both blushed as planned and Lily said with an equivalent grin, "Yup, it was exactly the right one."

Remus quickly changed the subject and said to Alice, "So Alice, do you think I could borrow your History notes? I was kind of doodling through that entire class, so my notes are pretty much worthless."

"Sure Remus, anything for my friend's umm… _friend_," said Alice with very clear implications.

Lily and Remus blushed furiously again. Marlene was ecstatic; things couldn't have been going better.

"So Lily which book exactly, did you borrow from Remus?" asked Marlene.

"Ummm, it was the, ummm, you know the one, about the… oh yeah, it was _Crime and Punishment_," she said finally.

"Sure it was," said Alice disbelievingly.

Alice nearly exploded with laughter right then and there, looking at James' face. He was redder thanHe

Remus was!

James, having had enough, abruptly left the table while muttering something about getting to class. Sirius soon followed him in the same manner.

As soon as the boys had left the Great Hall, the Gryffindor seventh-years all let out their pent-up laughter. Remus and Lily let go of each others' hands and slid apart to more of a friendly distance.

"Did you see his face?" asked Marlene as she nearly collapsed into a plate of sandwiches.

"It was sooo red!" gasped Alice as she clutched her sides because she was laughing so hard.

Peter actually fell out of his seat laughing. Lily and Remus were leaning up against each other because they couldn't seem to support themselves they were laughing so hard.

Finally their chuckles all subsided and they were able to resume eating their lunch in peace; well after Marlene told the whole hall off for not minding their own business, there was peace.

"That was the best prank I think we've ever pulled," said to Lily as she high-fived her accomplices.

"I agree," said Marlene. "It was even better than that one third year when we put spiders in their beds!"

"Sorry about that Peter and Remus," said Alice apologetically.

"That was you guys?" asked Peter. "We hexed Snape for that!"

"You blamed Snape and the other Slytherins for all of the pranks we played on you guys," said Lily in an almost disapproving tone.

"What else have you girls done to us?" questioned Remus.

"Nope, you won't get another word out of us!" claimed Marlene.

"So how long are we going to keep this up?" asked Peter.

"I dunno, what do you guys think?" asked Marly thoughtfully.

"How long do you think you two can keep this up?" Alice asked Lily and Remus. "Good job on the acting by the way!"

"Hmmm," said Lily. "What do you think Remus?"

"I don't know, but they're bound to catch on eventually."

"Not necessarily," said Marlene. "You saw them just now; they were totally convinced."

"I say that we don't let it go past a week," said Lily. "We can stage our break-up at the end if you like Remus."

"That should be fun," said Remus wickedly.

"Why are we doing this again?" asked Peter.

"It's fun?" offered Alice.

"Giving Potter and Black a taste of their own medicine," said Marlene.

"Trashing their egos," said Lily. "And feeding Potter's insecurities."

"Getting sweet, sweet revenge," Remus summed up.

"Oh okay, I forgot."

After that the group's conversations strayed to how the first day of school was progressing so far.

-----

The rest of the day passed pleasantly. Lily and Remus continued to act as though they were more than friends in front of James and Sirius exclusively; in the presence of everyone else, they proceeded as just friends. This charade lasted well into the following day; Remus was thoroughly enjoying seeing James squirm.

At breakfast on the third day of the act, Remus caught Lily pensively staring at the bewitched ceiling of the Great Hall, which on that day seemed to mirror her thoughts; the sky appeared to be a murky gray with swirling and churning clouds moving at a ferocious pace.

"Something up Lily?" asked Remus.

"Besides the ceiling you mean?' asked Lily, never taking her eyes off of the enchanted dome far above her.

"Yes," Remus prompted.

"Well, above the ceiling there is the sky and beyond that, well beyond that is where I'd like to be most days," replied Lily in a voice that strongly reminded Remus of someone who was giving their own eulogy and trying to makes jokes during it.

Remus was undaunted; he had seen James depressed over Lily; he had seen Sirius depressed over his family; he had seen Peter depressed over being the least of the Marauders; needless to say, he had seen all kinds of sadness. So, he was not discouraged by what was apparently Lily's reclusive nature that sprung from some sort of depression.

He pressed, "Is something bothering you?"

Lily finally took her eyes off of the ceiling to look at Remus. He was only subjected to her calculating glance for a moment before she returned her attentions to the clouds. However, in that moment, he felt as if he was being gauged, graded almost; Lily's gaze was very intense, partly perpetuated by her very dark green eyes.

After a moment Lily said off-handedly, "I think it will storm today."

Remus looked up at the imitation of the sky and said, "Perhaps."

Remus then admitted defeat; Lily had checkmated him. But, in Remus' reckoning, she had won a battle, not the war. He was determined to be the same kind of friend she had been to him for a long time, supportive and tireless.

-----

James was walking around the castle after dinner in a distracted fashion. He couldn't understand it; Remus and Lily? Where did that come from? And why was Remus avoiding him unless he was holding hands with Lily and flaunting their relationship in front of him? As James was walking mechanically, he realized something. It was a sudden epiphany in the middle of the corridor, and once the seed had embedded itself in his conscious, it grew at an exponential rate.

He was jealous.

He was jealous of Remus.

He was jealous of Remus for being with Lily.

He was angry at and jealous of Remus for being with Lily.

He was angry at Remus and Lily for being with each other and jealous of their relationship.

He was angry at Lily.

James could understand Remus' predicament; he had fallen hard for Lily himself. What he couldn't tolerate at the moment was Lily. She had strung him along for far too long and then dumped him as hard as she could have and then went off with one of his best mates, all the while turning Remus against James.

James was nearly at the point of being completely enraged. He took to running. He pushed some people and shoved some people and ignored some first years who needed directions. All of a sudden he was feeling suffocated. Finally, he made it out to the front doors, and opened them a bit. He was instantly met with violent winds, but he really needed to get out of the castle, so he persevered.

James' relief at being outside was not long-lasting. The wind was biting and sharp; it whipped around him, swirling his robes around him too fast for him to keep track. James was about to step back inside the castle where it was much less likely that his glasses would be swept off of his face, when he noticed that he was not alone on the grounds. There, in the middle of it all was a very recognizable redhead.

Her back was to him as she stood in front of the lake, her robes were whipping wildly about her as well, though her hair somehow managed to remain in its tight bun. James' anger that had fallen onto the back burner while he was distracted with keeping a hold on his glasses and not being impaled with the large tree branches that were flying through the air as if they were broomsticks meant for such rider-less travel, came soaring back to him now as if he had summoned it.

James fought against the wind to get to where the girl who plagued his dreams was standing, all the time wondering how such a slight girl hadn't been swept along by the gale force winds yet.

Lily didn't acknowledge the new presence next to her; she just kept staring at the white-crested waves that were so rare on the normally placid lake of Hogwarts.

"What are you doing out here?!" bellowed James angrily.

Lily cast a quick glance at James before looking back at the waves and the swirling clouds of the sky. "Not looking for company!" she shouted back, fighting to be heard over the whistling of the wind that was snatching her words away from her even as she spoke them.

"Too bad!" yelled James. "I need to talk to you!"

"Again?!" Lily shouted exasperatedly. "How many times can we possibly go over the same material?!"

"Once more it seems!" said James as he grabbed Lily not so gently by the arm and led her back to the castle.

She didn't say anything in her own defense, nor did she fight James. She even obediently stepped over the branches in their path and allowed herself to be pulled to the ground when a tree limb threatened to decapitate them both.

Once they were inside they entrance hall and the door was secured behind them, with a great effort on the part of both of their wands, James turned to Lily and yelled, "What the hell were you doing out there?"

Lily, refusing to let her voice reach the intensity of James', said defensively, "I could ask you the same question."

"I asked you first!"

"And I asked you second," said Lily just as childishly as James.

"Tell me!" James commanded.

"No," said Lily as she began walking away from the enraged James Potter.

"Yes!" said James as he grabbed Lily's arm tightly. James ignored the voice in his head that said his ungentlemanly action would have shamed his mother if she was there. "Why were you outside during a wind storm?!"

"Why do you care?" asked Lily venomously. "Last time I checked, you agreed to stop 'caring' about me and wished me a life alone with an abundance of cats."

"Because I want you alive so that I can yell at you for being a horrid wretch!"

"Finally someone sees my true colors!" said Lily as if she were very relieved. "And now that you know I truly am a horrible person who deserves to be alone, will you please let me go!"

"But I have to tell you why I'm angry!"

"You really don't," Lily commented. "I know why people hate me and wish me unhappiness, there's no need for you to waste your precious time and voice reminding me!"

Completely ignoring her, James let loose his rage, "You are so inconsiderate of other people's feelings! You go out with my best mate less than three months after giving me false hope and then taking it away and you turn him against me!"

Now Lily was mad. "Don't you ever accuse me of turning Remus against you! You did that on your own!"

As Lily wrenched her arm out of his grasp, James said, "But you admit going out with him to spite me?!"

"Where are you coming from? I never said anything about going out with him to spite you!"

"But you can't deny it!"

"Yes I can, because it's not true! I may be an awful person, but I would never do that!"

"So why are you going out with him?"

"Do I really need an ulterior motive to justify myself?"

"Yes!"

"Why?"

"Because you chose him over me!" slipped out of James' voice before he could help himself.

Lily laughed cruelly. "It's always about you Potter, isn't it? You know what? I'm tired of this charade! Remus and I are not going out! I was just trying to make you angry, so I asked him to pretend to be going out with me during Potions on the first day of classes! And you know what? It was worth it!"

James looked lost. "You what?"

"We were pretending! Remus and I are only friends! Sorry to disappoint you! And that's not why Remus has been avoiding you. I would talk to him if I were you."

With that, Lily left James standing confounded in the entrance hall of Hogwarts. She quickly reached the common room and sought out Remus.

"Remus," said Lily urgently as she tore him away from his homework. "James knows; I had to tell him. He kind of cornered me about our relationship. He made a lot of accusations and I just kind of lost it. I'm sorry."

Remus furrowed his brow, "What did he say?"

"Not much, he was pretty speechless."

"Well, it saves us the trouble of breaking up," said Remus lightly.

"Yeah I s'pose," said Lily tiredly. "He accused me of turning you against him."

"Did he?"

"Yeah, he did."

"Interesting."

"I sense that he can't quite come to terms with the fact that he's not perfect and some things are his fault," Lily said dryly.

"Only child syndrome," commented Remus.

"Yeah, well, whatever. I'll see you around Remus."

"Bye Lily. Wait!"

"Yeah?"

"Did you tell him that I did this to get back at him?"

Lily shook her head. "I didn't want to mess things up more between you guys. This really is not that big of a deal; it shouldn't have gotten this out of hand as it is. I know you guys are all really close and stuff, but maybe you guys are finally growing up and a bit apart."

"It was the principle of the thing," Remus argued. "They excluded me, and I'm tired of being left out."

Lily nodded, unwilling to get into a fight with Remus. "Okay, well anyways, I told him I was an evil, vindictive woman and I wanted to get him angry. And I told him that you're mad at him for your own reasons and that he should talk to you."

"Why did you do that?" asked Remus harshly.

"Do what?" asked Lily as she rubbed her hand over her face tiredly.

"Try and smooth things over for me!"

"I don't know."

"Well stop doing it!"

Lily was startled. "Okay, I won't say anything to him about it again."

"No! Just stop meddling period! If I want to be angry at James and Sirius, I want to be angry at them! I think I was far too lenient before concerning the end of the last school year and now I'm done being reasonable! And I don't want you to guilt trip me into being friends with them again! I don't want to forgive them!"

"Fine Remus! Do what you want! I'll try to stop caring!" spat Lily as she stormed out of the common room and up to her dorm before another person could hurt her. She ran to her bed and jumped onto it. She immediately clutched her pillow to her chest and face and began to cry bitterly into it. When had her life gone so wrong?

**A/N. Please review! **


	7. Nothing More Than A Mudblood

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Harry Potter or Harry Potter related copyrights.**

A few weeks passed and the world plunged into October. Seventh year seemed like it was slowly killing the Gryffindors, but it wasn't just the enormous amount of homework which kept them up into the early hours of the morning on some occasions, it was the tension between them. Everyone could sense it. Remus was hanging out with the Ravenclaws almost exclusively now; James, Sirius and Peter, who had sided with James and Sirius over Remus, were a lot more subdued at mealtimes and in class and hardly ever played any pranks.

Further down the Gryffindor table it could be observed that the Head Girl was sitting with her friends, but instead of catching up on the newest gossip or exchanging stories, often she was reading. It seemed to the Hogwarts population that everyday she had a new novel in front of her at breakfast. Alice and Marlene could often be seen exchanging worried glances and trying to entice Lily to eat, but even the strong-willed Marlene McKinnon was not a match for the stubbornness of Lillian Evans.

Needless to say, everyone was on edge. They were just waiting for an explosion or the world to end.

"Heads Meeting tonight at seven in the study," said Lily offhandedly as she walked by the spot where James, Sirius and Peter were sitting at lunch.

Peter marveled at how Lily would read a book, walk and talk at the same time. Sirius was shocked to see the bags underneath Lily's eyes and how her weekend muggle clothes hung off of her slight frame in a way that was masked by the black school robes. James surprised himself when he noticed that he truly didn't care that the most Lily would ever say to him was associated with Heads business.

At the Ravenclaw table, Remus' train of thought when he saw Lily sit down mechanically with Alice and Marlene nearly mirrored Sirius'. He really regretted their argument now, but for once he refused to back down and apologize. He was sick and tired of people taking advantage of his forgiving nature. So he just turned his head, blocked out his concern for his former friend, and rejoined the fascinating conversation the Ravenclaws around him were having; the subject was various hints and myths about the N.E.W.T. tests.

Then, one morning in early October lead to yet another rift in the usually closely-knit Gryffindor seventh-years. Marlene and Alice had approached Sirius the previous day and begged him to help them get Lily to put her novel down and eat some breakfast. They had been trying since the beginning of school and had little success. Sirius had quickly agreed; he was nearly as worried about Lily as Marly and Alice were, but he had had not idea as to what he could do. But, now that he had a plan, he was quick to execute it.

The very next morning, Sirius allowed the other two Marauders to proceed without him to breakfast and he waited for Lily to come down. A short time later, she walked down the stairs, book in front of her face as usual. Sirius grinned as he realized that she was probably one of the few people who could walk down stairs while reading.

"Hey Lily," said Sirius as he realized that she was going to walk right by him without stopping.

"Good morning Sirius," said Lily as she continued walking to the portrait hole.

"Hey wait up!" he said as he scrambled off of the couch and grabbed his school bag.

"Why?" she asked while slowing her pace but not stopping.

"Cause I wanted to walk with you to breakfast. I've haven't talked to you lately and… yeah… I wanted to walk you to breakfast."

"Okay," said Lily as she shrugged.

"Are you going to put the book down?"

"Why?"

"So I can talk to you?"

"You are talking to me."

Changing tactics, Sirius joked, "Didn't your mother ever teach you it is rude to read a book while in the company of others?"

That got Lily's attention. She tore her eyes away from her book for just a second, to raise her eyebrows at Sirius' attempt at a joke. She turned back to her novel and said coolly, "Dear Clarice taught me that it is proper of a lady to walk as if she had books on her head. It's not my fault if I would rather hold them in my hands."

"Can you walk with them on your head?"

Lily nodded.

"Show me."

Lily slipped her bookmark into place, closed the book and put it on her head. Then she continued to walk down the hallway. Before she knew what was happening, Sirius snatched the book and shoved it into his schoolbag.

"Ha! Now you'll have to talk to me!"

"Oh contraire mi amico, I am always prepared," said Lily as she pulled a second novel out of her schoolbag.

"How can someone ever win against you?" he asked as he hit himself on the head.

"It's nearly impossible, except in Quidditch; I'm rubbish at Quidditch."

"Well it's nice to know that you aren't perfect."

"Far from it," said Lily softly. "Very far from it."

"Hey Lily?"

"Yes?"

"What's bothering you?"

"A lot of things."

"You seemed okay when I left your house this summer."

"I wasn't okay, but I was closer to it then than I am now."

"Well what happened after that?"

Lily actually closed her book, stopped walking and turned to face Sirius. "Please don't ask me."

"I already did," Sirius pointed out.

Lily closed her eyes and sighed. When she opened them again, she looked at Sirius' worried countenance and said, "Let's not ruin your astonishing appetite; come on, let's go to breakfast."

Sirius nodded slightly and said disappointedly, "Okay, but don't think I'm going to stop pestering you about this! Now that you have all but admitted that there is something wrong, I will be persistent until the hippogriffs come home!"

Lily laughed lightly and said, "Okay Sirius, but I am just about the most stubborn person you'll ever meet and don't think I'll let you off easily. I guard my secrets like Smaug guards the treasure of the dwarves."

"What was that?"

Lily held up her copy of _The Hobbit_ by Tolkien. "Good book," she commented. "You should read it sometime."

"Me? Read? For fun? You have lost it!"

"If you're referring to my mind, I lost it a long time ago. In the middle of learning which fork one is supposed to use to eat fish I suppose."

"And which fork is one supposed to use, pray tell?"

"Whichever fork everyone else is using."

"Good plan," said Sirius as he laughed. Then as they approached the Great Hall, Sirius asked his companion, "Come eat breakfast with me, and you can educate me further in the fine arts of eating fish."

"I hate fish," was Lily's only reply as she allowed herself to be lead to the seat next to Sirius.

James and Peter were already there. Both boys shot Sirius questioning glances as he sat down across from them. Sirius just shook his head to mean he would explain later.

Only seconds after they had sat down, the mail arrived. Although none of the boys received anything, an owl flew down to Lily.

She put down her book and stroked the owl's smooth feathers. "Good morning Tartarus."

She then took the letter from the darkly colored owl and fed him some of her breakfast, all the while talking to him in soft tones, something that didn't escape the notice of the three boys. "Oh you poor thing, you've had a long journey haven't you? He doesn't feed you enough for this, seems to think you'll get fat. I don't think you'll get fat Tartarus. I'll come by the owlery later and you can give him my message back, but you go rest for now."

Once Tartarus had taken flight to go sleep in the owlery, Lily had to face the curious stares of the three Marauders.

"So you talk to birds, Lily?" asked Peter.

"Yup, he understands me too. Sometimes he even talks back but I think he was a little bit shy in front of you three. He doesn't like to broadcast his extraordinary talent," said Lily sarcastically.

Then she turned to her letter. The boys let her read it in peace, but when she folded it up and put it back in the envelope, all of Hades broke loose.

"So who's the very long letter from Lily?" asked Sirius with a large grin.

"Yeah!" Peter chimed in. "Was it a love letter?"

"Now why would anyone send me a love letter?" asked Lily rhetorically.

"I dunno," said Peter answering the question anyways.

"I bet it was a love letter!" said Sirius.

"I guess you'll never know now will you," said Lily as she took a muffin from the basket in the middle of the table. "Anyone want the other half of my muffin? I only like the top."

Peter immediately took the proffered muffin bottom.

"Why won't you tell us what your letter says?" asked James who had remarkably remained silent up until this point.

Lily coolly met his gaze. "Because it's none of your business."

"What if I were to make it my business?" asked James rudely.

"And, pray tell, how would you manage that one? Under the pretense of trying to find out if I'm really going to end up an old spinster? Well let me tell you something Potter, I would much rather remain a crotchety old woman who knits for fun, then marry someone as conceited as you," she spat.

"It seems like someone is acting a little defensive, and who ever said that I give a **damn** about you or your life. I wouldn't spare a second of my precious time thinking about your pathetic existence. I think you'd be considered lucky if you became successful enough to have a rocking chair to knit in," James spat right back.

"You know what Potter? It's people like you that make me want to jump off of Angel Falls. The only reason I haven't yet is because I know that that would just make your life so much easier, and I can't let that happen, now can I?"

"You know what Evans? It's a good thing that you've already reconciled yourself to a life alone because I don't know what bloke would ever be able to stand you for more than five minutes at a time!"

Lily smiled a sickening smile; it was as if she knew an evil secret, like she had foreseen your death and it wasn't going to be pretty. "And that's the way I like it. I'm much too independent to be tied down to any guy for more than five minutes. It seems like things work out well for everyone."

"What about the guy that work that letter?" asked Peter.

"He's more persistent then the rest," Lily sighed theatrically. "And much different in many ways," she added more softly.

"Looks like someone has a crush!"

"I don't know if a feeling of attraction is defined as a 'crush' when the person in question is one's boyfriend."

"You don't have a boyfriend," James stated cruelly.

"You thought you had made sure of that huh Potter? Too bad for you that he doesn't go to Hogwarts, and before you start doing your research to find him and then pummel him shortly thereafter for allowing me a slight margin of happiness, he doesn't even live in Britain currently."

"I still don't believe you," said James stubbornly as he crossed his arms over his chest defensively.

Lily, never one to back down from a challenge, pulled out the letter and showed James the address and the bottom signature. It read: _My Dearest Missy (stressing both my and dearest),_ and _Your truly devoted and pining boyfriend, Richard S. Gills_, respectively.

"Sounds like a pansy to me," sniffed James disdainfully.

"Need I bring out a certain letter from fourth year?" threatened Lily.

"Ah so you kept it," said James musingly.

"Only for blackmail purposes," Lily assured him. "It turns out that my keeping it could prove to be very useful."

"I don't remember any letter from fourth year," said Sirius.

"You wouldn't," said Lily turning to the seventh year on her left. "I doubt very much whether he ever showed it to you. It is rather embarrassing to say the least."

"Go ahead and show it to him," James dared her. "I. Don't. Care."

"Then you wouldn't mind if I posted it on a big banner for the whole school to see?"

"Nope. Not in the least."

"Liar," Lily hissed.

"What was that?"

"You heard me."

Sirius decided to step in and play mediator in the stead of Remus. "Now, now children, play nicely. No need for this to come to blows."

"Padfoot! Whose side are you on?!" asked James as his fingers curled around his wand in the pocket of his robes, just in case.

"Yours," said Sirius automatically.

"Glad you took the time to analyze the situation and formulate a conclusion," said Lily caustically. "I'm so glad that you don't just jump to take sides on an impulse."

Then she got up from the table, letter in hand, without another word.

"Good job Prongs," said Sirius after he watched Lily go. "Good bloody job!"

"What did I do?" asked James as he turned back to his breakfast, a little put out by his best mate's harsh tone.

"Are you blind? Can't you see that there is something seriously wrong with her?! And you just made it worse! And look, now Marlene is coming over here, surely to kill me."

"I don't see why you bother yourself with mudblood trash like her," said James emphatically.

Sirius, Peter and Marlene, who was in hearing range of James' last comment, all stared at him with their mouths open.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Marlene shouted at James right before his mouth began foaming with the same soap suds that had come out of Snape's mouth that day at the lake in fifth year after the Defense Against the Dark Arts O.W.L..

"Miss McKinnon!" said Professor McGonagall as she marched down to where the group was. "You are a seventh year! This behavior is unacceptable. You are setting a poor example for the younger years by hexing your classmate in the middle of the Great Hall! Apologize at once and then you will get two detentions and twenty points from Gryffindor."

"I accept the detentions and the points taken away Professor, but, with all due respect, I will not apologize to him because what he did was far more unacceptable."

"And what was that Miss McKinnon?"

"He called a good friend of mine, Lily Evans, 'mudblood trash'," said Marlene unabashedly. "I'm sorry Professor, but I just can't stand for that."

"Mr. Potter is this true?" asked the Transfiguration teacher.

"Yes Professor, it is," said James, not even trying to pull his usual tactics for getting out of punishment.

"Mr. Potter, need I remind you that you are Head Boy! Come with me at once. Mr. Black, and Miss McKinnon please come to my office as well. Mr. Pettigrew, please fetch Miss Evans and then the both of you will report to my office."

The seventh year Gryffindors obeyed their Head of House's commands without any objections. Soon they were all gathered in the office of Professor McGonagall.

"I want an explanation of this morning's events. Mr. Black, let's start with your account."

Sirius gulped, if he incriminated James, things would go from bad to worse, but if he lied, Marlene would surely maim him and call his lie. He couldn't trust Peter to back him up without ruining his fragile story either.

"Well Professor, I woke up this morning, took a shower, pulled my robes out from under Peter's bed…"

"Not from the beginning Mr. Black!"

"I was getting there," said Sirius defensively. "Anyways, I woke up… and then I met Lily in the common room. We walked down to breakfast and I invited her to sit with Peter, James and I. She accepted and we sat down. Shortly thereafter, the mail arrived. Lily got a letter and Peter asked if it was a love letter. She said something like 'no' but we all knew it was. Then she and James got into a bit of a spat; she left and then afterwards, James, still reeling from the heat of the moment, said some things I'm sure he regrets."

Professor McGonagall nodded to affirm that she had heard his story and said, "Mr. Pettigrew, do you have anything to add or change?"

Peter shook his head 'no.'

"Miss McKinnon, what is your side of the story?"

"I was just about to politely inquire why Lily had so abruptly left the company of these three dopes, when I clearly heard Potter say things I will not repeat again. In the defense of Lily, who was not there, I helped Potter to clean out his potty mouth," said Marlene with a smirk.

"That's quite enough Miss McKinnon," said Professor McGonagall.

Marlene quickly wiped the smirk off of her face. "Mr. Potter, would you like to add anything to this conversation?"

"Yeah," he said, eyes still blazing with anger. "I was provoked and I meant what I said."

Professor McGonagall sent a harsh glare his way, but it didn't faze James in the least, who was, for some unknown reason, incredibly angry. "Miss Evans, what is your story?"

Lily, who had been looking down into her lap the whole time, now raised her head to look at her Head of House, a woman she greatly respected and said, "Potter may have been provoked, but it was not by me, and that's it."

"Alright," said the Professor tiredly. "Miss McKinnon, I stand by my earlier decision of giving you two detentions for hexing a classmate, but no points will be taken away since you did it in the defense of a friend. Mr. Potter, for your atrocious behavior, you will be suspended from Quidditch for the next two weeks and during the times practices would have occurred, you will serve detention."

"But Professor! That's unfair! I booked the pitch for four nights every week for the next two weeks! And we have a match in three weeks against Slytherin!" exclaimed James.

"You should have thought of that before you opened your mouth Mr. Potter. You are the Head Boy and Quidditch Captain, I expect more from you. Also, fifty points will be subtracted from Gryffindor."

Everyone looked up at that sentence. This time it was Sirius to protest, "But Professor, don't you think that's a little harsh? Fifty points? I think we only have fifty."

"The punishment stands, I will not have Gryffindors speaking so crudely. It is simply inappropriate and I will not tolerate it in my house! Oh and Mr. Potter I will be writing to your parents. I also require that you apologize to Miss Evans. Now that is all, you are all dismissed," said McGonagall as she dipped her quill in ink and proceeded to start said letter.

The teenagers morosely filed out of the room. Once outside, James mumbled half of an apology to Lily and then took off with Peter chasing at his heels trying to catch up. Sirius gave Lily a look of apology before hastening after the retreating back of his best mate. Marlene was aiming her wand for the backs of the boys, when Lily lowered it with her hand.

"You're in enough trouble as it is. At least wait until we're a couple of floors away from McGonagall's office," said Lily as she threw a glance over her shoulder to make sure that McGonagall wasn't directly behind them.

Marlene nodded and put her wand in her pocket. "Don't worry Lil, we'll get them back. Now tell me, what really went down between you and that prat Potter? He seemed really riled up. Did you like insult his mom or something?"

"I don't even know Marly, I really don't. I got a letter from Richard this morning and Peter and Sirius were teasing me about it and then all of a sudden, James went totally physco. Of course I wasn't about to let him walk all over me, so I insulted him right back. Nothing really new though, pretty much the same things I've said to him the last three times we had to talk. I honestly don't know why he was so affected this time," said Lily as she tried to put the pieces of the puzzle together in her head.

"I'd say he was jealous that you have a boyfriend," began Marlene, well aware of the glare that Lily was shooting at her. "I think he's finally fed up with you trashing his ego, and gave up on pursuing you, stupidly thinking that he was the only person in the universe who was interested in you."

"So he just hexed every guy who has ever asked me out here at Hogwarts for no reason at all?"

"Back then, my dear naïve Lily, he was staking out his territory. Now he doesn't want you to be his, but because he can't have you, he doesn't want anyone to. It's an obvious case of only child syndrome," said Marlene with the air of a seasoned therapist. "But, why waste the few minutes we have left before Charms, with talking about such an unappealing subject? Instead, how about we talk about your lover boy?! I haven't asked for my clue of the week yet! And while we're on the subject, let me just tell you that I think it terribly cruel that you'll only answer one of my questions every week!"

"Okay, okay! What's your question for this week?"

Marlene, who was terribly excited that she had gotten Lily to even talk this much, pretended to think about the question she was going to ask. She had, of course, had it ready for days, but she wanted to prolong the happy moment as long as possible. "What color eyes does he have?" she asked finally.

"Hazel, with a lot of light green and only some light brown mixed in," said Lily promptly.

"Hmmm… not an overly detailed description, but not a simple one-word answer either. I would say that you are only mildly infatuated with this hazel-eyed, tan-skinned, dark brown-haired, twenty year old American Professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts of yours."

Lily smiled widely as she pictured each aspect of Richard as her friend named them.

"Scratch that, with a smile that wide, I'd have to say quite infatuated!"

Lily and Marlene laughed together.

"I can't wait to meet him!" exclaimed Marlene. "He sounds so dreamy!"

"Well, in his letter this morning, he said that he was going to come for the Hogsmeade trip this weekend," said Lily. "I can see him in only five days!"

"No wonder you're in such a good mood," said Marlene. "Poor Lily has been stuck in school taking classes for a month and a half while her lover boy has been thousands of miles away teaching classes. That's kind of ironic."

"What is?"

"That he could have been our new Defense teacher this year instead of that witch Professor Alinge."

Lily laughed. "He nearly was until I told him that I was a student here! Then he had to refuse the position and grab his second choice at his alma mater in America."

"So why did he attend school in the States instead of Hogwarts?"

"You already had your question answered, but since you're meeting him in a few days, I suppose I'll answer this one too. He was adopted by muggles when he was very little, because he was left at a muggle orphanage by his mother. Then when he got his Hogwarts letter, they refused to let him go. Dumbledore, naturally got involved; he tried to make them see reason, but they wouldn't. So, he turned to one of his old friends in the U.S. who was the Headmistress of the school there and they set up an elaborate ruse. The end product is that Richard's parents were satisfied and they let him go to this exclusive boarding school in the States, also known as Merlin's Academy," Lily explained.

"And his parents never wondered at the strange supply list?"

"They just gave him money and he bought his stuff, no questions asked. They don't have the most nurturing household."

Marlene was prevented from asking any further questions because they had arrived at the Charms classroom just as the bell was ringing.


	8. New Discoveries

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Harry Potter or Harry Potter related copyrights.**

That afternoon, after James and Sirius had sorted things about between them and reached a mutual decision about agreeing to disagree about Lily, something clicked for them. This was one of the few fights that they had ever resolved themselves. Usually Remus had a hand in making them see reason and getting them to apologize to each other.

After that particular thought process, the minds of the two boys who were sitting in their dormitory, turned to their missing Marauder. He had made it pretty clear to them that they were not to talk to him under any circumstances and upon pain of death, were not to refer to him as a Marauder or include him in any of their schemes. However, they were not willing to accept this; now all they needed was a plan to get him back.

James started pacing and mumbling, and after about a minute, Sirius could no longer follow it. Sirius knew his friend well enough to just let him pace whatever it was out completely. It was James' way of clearing his mind and it often worked.

Finally, after five minutes, James came out of his pacing and said, "We have to talk to him."

"It took you five minutes to think of that?!"

"Who says that Remus was the only one I was plotting against? What if I spent thirty seconds on him and the rest figuring out a way to throw you into the Great Lake without you knowing anything?"

"Well then you had better go back to pacing because now you need to come up with something really special because I know what you're going to do."

"Or so you think," said James enigmatically.

"So… Moony?"

"Yeah, we got to go talk to him."

"How? He's gotten to be a pro at avoiding us. He is still a Marauder after all, so he knows all of the secret ways of the castle almost as well as we do."

"Which is why we have to set a trap," grinned James.

"I like it. Tell me more," said Sirius.

Mid-way through the explanation of James' theory, Peter returned huffing to the dormitory from the kitchens, carrying a basket. Sirius broke out the food and James restarted the planning process. Once he was finished, Sirius put in all of his suggestions and then they came to the part where Remus would tweak their plan and make sure that it woukdnt get them all sent to Azkaban. They just skipped it and went to Peter's part; the distractions and plotting of escape routes. Soon, they had devised the toughest plan they had ever attempted- to trap and contain a Marauder.

-----

Remus was walking down the hall alone after class a few days later feeling rather miserable because the second full moon of the school year was quickly approaching; in fact it was only two nights away. While thinking of the full moon, Remus' thoughts quickly turned to his friends, his companions during the transformations. Without his presence reminding the three boys of the full moon, they hadn't remembered to be at the Shrieking Shack for their werewolf friend at his first transformation. That had really sent Remus over the edge. Now he knew that they weren't going to be there for next one, and it didn't look as if they would ever be with him on full moons again.

Things weren't looking up for Remus. He hated fighting and avoiding the Marauders. For one, they, even though he was mad at them, were like his brothers and the second thing was that they were very hard to avoid. For some reason, unknown to Remus, the boys had actually started to miss him and were now trying to corner him to sort things out. So, for the past week it had been a battle of who knew the castle better.

He was also far from happy about the state if his relationship with Lily. Neither of them had exchanged a pleasant word since their fight in the common room. It was as if their close friendship had simply dissolved. Then Remus remembered telling her to stay out of his life. Ruefully, he finally realized that she was only doing as he asked.

These were the thoughts that were occupying Remus' head when he stopped short right in front of a large puddle of green slime that was spread out on the hallway floor with only a foot between it and the wall on one side. Remus knew better than to try and magically make something that the Marauders had, more than likely, cooked up disappear . He also knew that it was stupid to try and jump over or walk through it.

So, Remus sighed and started to walk along the very edge of the suspicious looking substance and sidled along the wall. He was about half-way along when suddenly the floor disappeared from under his feet and he found himself traveling along a sooty chute. Then all of a sudden, the chute ended abruptly and Remus landed with a loud thump on the brick floor of a large fireplace that he recognized as belonging in the Hogwarts kitchens. Instantly fire sprang up in front of the trapped, former, Marauder. Remus knew that if he tried to get rid of the flames magically, there could be some serious and possibly harmful side-effects. It was one of the Marauder's more genius ideas- make something annoying, obnoxious, or in-the-way appear and then charm it to get bigger or have weird side-effects if anyone tried to get rid of it.

Sighing again, Remus shifted to get in a more comfortable position and pulled a book out of his schoolbag. He had not read more than five pages when he heard the distinct sound of James and Sirius having one of their "discussions" outside of the large room that Remus was in. They were probably two corridors away, but both boys had loud, deep voices and Remus had very perceptive hearing, so he could hear them clearly.

"Wormtail said that he saw him fall down!" protested James.

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean anything," argued Sirius. "For all we know he could have escaped by now!"

Referring to an earlier part of their conversation about the effectiveness of having Peter as their messenger, James said, "But Peter's legs aren't that short!"

"What do you mean? It's amazing he can walk, but running? It probably took him ten minutes to get to us," said Sirius somewhat angrily. Peter was so slow sometimes and it often caused Sirius to be short-tempered.

"But even if it has been a while since he fell in, that doesn't mean he figured out how to get out. After all these years Moo-Remus must have figured out that it is stupid to try and avoid our traps and pranks."

"Yeah, you're right; everyone else in the school has and they haven't even seen the stuff that we deemed too dangerous to attempt in school."

"But Moo-Remus has and he knows what we're capable of."

Sirius chuckled, "Yeah it's a good thing that we aren't Slytherins or else a certain red-headed muggle-born Gryffindor would have found herself alone in a jungle in Peru a long time ago."

James didn't laugh, but tickled the pear and stepped inside the kitchens.

Sirius and James glanced around the room and James said, "I guess we missed him after all."

"No look, the flames are still up, he must be hiding behind them," Sirius whispered just loud enough for Remus to hear with his superior senses that came with being a werewolf.

Since Remus heard Sirius' last comment, he stood up, brushed himself off and said coolly, "I was not hiding, I was merely sitting down."

"Well, no matter," said Sirius lightly. "We're all here now except for Wormtail who is cleaning up the goop upstairs."

"Yes, and we have some stuff we want to say," said James seriously.

"Go ahead, but I'm not going to guarantee that I will listen," said Remus.

"You don't have a choice," said James. "We're going to talk and you know you are going to listen."

"Ok, so what is up with you? You're avoiding us and you aren't a Marauder anymore?" asked Sirius.

"Marauders are for life Moo-Remus."

"Not always James, especially not in this case. It's over, end of story," said Remus. "Accept it and move on. Find another friend to abandon."

Then Remus waved his wand, deeming that if there were some side-effects that they would at least, in all probability, get James and Sirius too, and the fire in front of him disappeared. He placed his book back in his bag and then picked up his bag and left. When he was at the door to the hallway, Sirius called out from behind him, "So, you don't want any company tomorrow night?"

"No Sirius, no I don't. I don't need you guys and I never have."

And then he stepped out into the hallway, probably to go to the library to study with his new Ravenclaw friends. James and Sirius were left with a feeling of loss similar to the feeling attributed to losing a major appendage. True, Remus had been avoiding them for weeks, but now there was no denying the fact that he no longer wanted to be a Marauder or their friend.

-----

Lily Evans was sitting in the office of the Headmaster, the perfect picture of poise and patience. However, if one was privy to the thoughts of Miss Evans, one would find that internally she was very annoyed. James Potter was, once again, late for a meeting with the Headmaster. Lily and James had both gotten the message about the time and place for the meeting after Transfiguration that afternoon, so his absence was not because he didn't know.

As Lily took another sip of the tea she had been offered and continued on with polite discussion with the Headmaster, she decided that James Potter was the absolute prat she had initially thought of him as and decided that she had been under some sort of spell at the end of the previous school year.

Finally, James made his grand entrance. Breathing deeply, James apologized for being fourteen minutes late. He then took his seat. To her credit, Lily's outward demeanor did not falter one iota, she still carried every bit the regal appearance of a stately ice queen.

"Well, now that you are both here," said Dumbledore with the customary twinkle in his eye. "I would like to elaborate on the idea which I introduced to the both of you earlier this year. As you know, last May, I was contacted by the Department of International Magical Cooperation. They are hosting a international foreign exchange student program this year. As I believe that international cooperation between wizards is imperative, I decided to enlist Hogwarts in this program. There are sixteen schools, including Hogwarts, that are participating.

"Thirty students have been chosen from each school and two students, a boy and a girl, will attend their new school for a month. I notified the parents and selected students over the summer.

"There will be a meeting of the involved students from all of the schools in London in two weeks on October 15. I would like both of you to attend and then accompany the exchange students back here to Hogwarts. They will then be sorted into the houses they will stay in for the month.

"The final aspect of this program is that from each school, there will be a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher exchange. From Hogwarts, Professor Aligne, has offered to go abroad. The teacher that will come here is from an American school. His name is Professor Richard Gills.

"Now do either of you have any questions?"

James shook his head, but Lily asked, "What kind of meeting will it be with all the students?"

The Headmaster answered, "A formal one. You will both be expected to wear appropriate formal attire. You and the students from Hogwarts will ride the Hogwarts Express to London, and will then be transported by the Ministry to the hotel where the ball is being held. The train will leave at nine in the morning on the 15th. The ball is that night and the following day, a tour of London is scheduled for the exchange students. The next day, you and the students will return to Hogwarts on the train, which will be leaving at the customary eleven a.m.."

"Professor?"

"Yes Miss Evans?"

"Is it alright if I don't attend the tour of London? I'm very familiar with it."

"What other activities did you have in mind?"

"Well," she said slowly. "My brother-in-law lives in London, could I possibly visit him?"

"As long as Mr. Potter accompanies you," said Professor Dumbledore. "The two of you may do anything you like for that day, as long as you return to the hotel at the appointed hour."

"Thank you Professor," said Lily quietly. Her hopes were dashed; there was no way that Potter would let her do anything she would consider fun.

"Any other questions?"

This time both Heads shook their heads.

"Okay, thank you for your time. There will be a meeting on Wednesday for all of the students that have been selected to go over the details. It will be at seven o'clock and Professor McGonagall has graciously allowed her classroom for the meeting place. If you have any other questions, my office is always open, provided you know the password of course," he said with a smile.

"Good night Professor," said Lily warmly as she got up from her armchair. "Thank you for the tea."

"Good evening Miss Evans, Mr. Potter."

"Bye Professor," said James.

As the two exited the spacious office, not a word was exchanged. In fact, the whole walk back to the common room was silent. Both of them seemed to have a lot weighing on their minds. Right before Lily gave the password for the Fat Lady, James said to her, "Evans?"

"Yes Potter?"

"I'm sorry for what I said about you a few days ago at breakfast."

"I'm sorry for provoking yet another fight between us," said Lily following his lead.

"It wasn't entirely your fault. I was upset because the night before that my mom wrote me saying that my dad had decided to return to active auror duty because of all of the attacks. It just…"

"Ruffled your feathers the wrong way?" suggested Lily.

"Yeah, I suppose that works," said James with a queer smile on his lips.

"Friends?" asked Lily as she held out her hand for James to shake.

"I think it would be for the best," said James as he clasped her hand. "After all, things haven't been going very smoothly in the school because of us."

"Yeah, the Prefects have taken sides you know."

"Yeah, half egg you on during out fights at meetings and half urge me on."

"They'll be so disappointed that we've reconciled."

"Ummm, they'll actually have to do work during the meetings instead of watching us fight for an hour."

"Pity."

"Lily?"

"Yeah?"

"Things aren't really good between us, are they?"

Lily let out a breath, "No, no they aren't. No one can turn around from wishing the other to get struck by lightning to being the best of friends. I was starting to wonder there for a moment."

"Wonder what?"

"If I was the only one who noticed how incredibly awkward that conversation was."

"Nope, I definitely noticed it too. So acquaintances then?"

"That sounds like a start to me," said Lily.

She gave the password to the Fat Lady, who had been growing rather impatient; they went inside and went their separate ways, each feeling relieved of a heavy burden.


	9. Moony Lashes Out

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Harry Potter or Harry Potter related copyrights.**

Remus quickly walked through the halls of Hogwarts. It was obvious that he was very anxious about something, and indeed he was. He had taken a nap after classes that day because he was feeling lousy due to the approaching full moon. However, without the help from his friends, he hadn't woken up at the right time. He was supposed to be in the Shrieking Shack a full hour before the moon rose for safety purposes. As Remus glanced at his watch, he realized with horror that he only had ten minutes to get to the Shack before his transformation was due to begin.

Now Remus was running. Even with several shortcuts, he knew that he was about five minutes from reaching the entrance hall, and he only had eight to make it to the Whomping Willow. He started to pray to every single superior being he had ever heard of that he would make it outside alright. After that he began cursing himself for not just going to the Hospital Wing as usual.

As he was running, Remus knocked into someone. He and the other person fell, but in no time at all, Remus was back on his feet and running again. His brain didn't even register the frenzied shouts behind him.

Finally, Remus burst through the front doors of the school. He had made it past the first danger. He didn't even want to think about what would have happened if he had transformed in one of the hallways. Still, he knew he wasn't out of hot water yet. His pace didn't decrease in the slightest as he ran across the grounds to the Whomping Willow and safety.

He was nearly there, only a matter of a few meters away, when he fell to the ground as a familiar sensation overcame him. With one last look through human eyes, Remus saw the full moon rising.

-----

"Hey you guys," said Peter as he looked at the Marauders' Map while lounging with the other guys. They had just returned from a pranking expedition and Peter was set to watch the map to see when their targets were getting close to their "doom." "Remus is out by the Whomping Willow."

"It's a full moon tonight," James remarked dryly.

"But he should be in the Shack by now," said Sirius from his seat near the window. "The sun set a long time ago and the moon is already starting to rise."

"That's not good," said James as he stopped doing his homework and went over to where Peter was eating chocolate frogs on his bed.

"It gets worse," said James gravely as he took a look at where Peter was pointing. "Lily's out there with him."

"What?!" Sirius bellowed as he bounded over to the map.

For Sirius' benefit, Peter pointed with a shaky finger to the little dot that was labeled 'Lily Evans'. It was currently moving very fast, away from the castle and away from a dot labeled 'Remus Lupin.'

"This is not good," Peter commented.

"Wormtail! Go get Dumbledore or the first teacher you find! Tell them what's happening! Come on Padfoot, we have to go try and save Lily!" shouted James.

"Right behind you mate!" said Sirius as he and James leapt from the room. Peter left the dormitory seconds later.

-----

Lily stood halfway between the Whomping Willow and the doors of Hogwarts, transfixed. Right before her very eyes, a suspicion that she had harbored for years was confirmed; Remus Lupin was turning into a werewolf. The entire process took a few minutes, and seemed very painful because Remus cried out many times, his voice becoming less human with each yell, but Lily couldn't make her feet move. She was struck with both curiosity and horror at the same time, a deadly combination.

Finally, the howl of the werewolf shook her out of her stationary status. Unfortunately for her, that howl meant two things, the first was symbolizing how the wolf had completely taken over Remus' body and mind and the second, was that, for the first time, the wolf had found some human prey.

Lily knew that running only caused dogs to run after you, thinking it was a game, but she also knew that Moony was no ordinary dog. He would kill her or bite her if she stayed around. Her best chance was to try to outrun him, so she turned around and started to run towards the school. All she could do was hope that she would make it in enough time to stop Moony from following her.

Luckily for her, Lily had run everyday during the summer and had continued her training through the school year, so she was no stranger to sprinting. However, she could never compete with a werewolf for speed, a fact which she found out as she glanced behind her and realized that while she was only a few meters away from the doors to the school, Moony was only a few meters behind her. There was no way that she could get inside and close the doors before he got in there, even with magic, unless she could stun him.

Lily whipped out her wand and sent a stunning spell at Moony. It only stopped him for a fraction of a second. She tried a more powerful spell, but that too had little effect. Now she was within spitting distance of the entrance hall; she could see the suits of armor in the hallway. It was in that moment that she realized there was a good possibility of her not surviving the night. She shook that idea from her head and the next spell she cast was to close and lock the front doors of Hogwarts. All she could hope for now was a miracle.

-----

Luckily for Lily help was on the way. Unfortunately, it was not fast enough; by the time James and Sirius skidded to a stop in the Entrance Hall, the doors were fastened shut. They tried shoving them open but that didn't work. Wordlessly, they pulled out their wands and began testing out all of the unlocking charms they knew.

"Why isn't this working?!" shouted James in frustration.

"Of all the times for the doors to be locked," Sirius moaned.

"We've tried everything!"

"Everything except 'Alohomora'," Sirius pointed out.

James quickly stood up from the spot on the floor where he had sunk in defeat and said, "That's it! Alohomora!"

As soon as the boys heard the click of the lock springing open, they pushed open the doors and lost no time in taking in their surroundings. They were both horrified to see Moony quickly gaining on Lily.

Then, unlike in the movies, nothing moved in slow motion. Moony lunged and landed just short of Lily's back, scratching the backs of her legs, but the force was enough to trip her and she fell to the ground.

Both boys were momentarily frozen in shock as they watched Lily roll over onto her back and sit up. And then she was patting the grass around her quickly. What was she doing? Then James realized what was going on; Lily was trying to find her wand without breaking eye contact with Moony. The plan was all working well until Lily wrapped her fingers around her wand and started to back up slowly. The werewolf wasn't about to let its prey get away _that_ easily.

Moony leapt again, and this time he didn't miss. As Moony sailed through the air, James jumped into action. He put his wand into his pocket and transformed into his animagus form, a brilliant, proud stag. He bounded across the grounds in huge arcs and was soon upon the scene.

It was even worse than anything his mind had allowed him to imagine. Lily's left arm was stuck at an odd angle underneath one of Moony' heavy claws and her right was still grasping her wand firmly, but was useless because she couldn't maneuver it around the werewolf that was on her torso. And then there were the gashes on Lily's legs that ran parallel to her bones, the big bruise on her face from when she had fallen face first onto the ground, that was already turning purple, and the large lacerations that were numerous on her arms and neck where the wolf's claws were digging into her muscles.

Just as Prongs pushed Moony off of Lily with his powerful antlers, Moony got one last swipe at Lily's side, which immediately began to bleed profusely. And then James was torn. Should he abandon Lily to fend for herself and chase Moony away? Or should he just focus on keeping Moony away from Lily and stay by her side?

Luckily James was saved from making such a difficult decision by the arrival of his good friend Padfoot, who had been only a few seconds behind the stag. Sirius, the large black, lovable dog with the same fierce side that Sirius possessed, indicated with one motion of his head that James should go to Lily and that he would take care of Moony, who was already getting back to his feet after being thrown to the ground.

James was about to do just what Sirius had suggested when Moony jumped him. Moony raked his long claws along Prongs' right flank. Padfoot quickly distracted Moony by biting his left hind leg. Moony howled out in pain as Padfoot's sharp canines pierced his flesh. Then Moony turned from James to Sirius, the new threat, just as Sirius had hoped.

The race was on; Sirius ran as fast as his four legs could carry him towards the Whomping Willow. Moony followed right on his tail, literally, trying to bite him along the way. Finally the Whomping Willow loomed ominously into view. Sirius ran right at it and the werewolf followed. In an instant, branches began striking the ground with loud thuds all around the two animals. Then suddenly, one branch swept over the ground with a force of a stampeding hippogriff, sending both canines flying.

Then, while they were down, the tree took advantage of the situation and sent several of its branches whipping down upon them. The limbs of the tree lashed out at every part of their bodies. Sirius was seeing stars from being hit with so much power, but finally he was able to roll to the side and get back up onto his feet.

The werewolf was released from the shower of painful branches when the dog began to move. The tree targeted on the moving animal and let up on the stationary one. So Moony was also to get back on his feet and resume the chase.

Then, all of a sudden, the branches became still, as did the dog. Moony scampered quickly to where the dog was and tried to tackle him. But, what happened next was certainly not what it had anticipated. Moony had thought that he would have pinned the dog up against the trunk of the tree, but what really occurred was that Moony fell into the hole that Padfoot had been concealing with his body. At the very last second Sirius had moved slightly and now Moony was in the hole below, howling in confusion. Padfoot pressed the knot at the base of the tree closing the hole and ran away from the tree as fast as he could with two broken ribs.

As soon as he was out of the reach of the flailing branches of the Whomping Willow, Padfoot returned to his human form and promptly collapsed.

Meters away his best mate, now in human form again, lay on the grass wincing as he tried to put pressure on his gaping wound to stop the bleeding. James and Sirius had both been scratched up by Moony before, but those scratches were nothing compared to the gaping wounds that were in James' side now. Soon, the pain and loss of blood overwhelmed him; James fell into the dark abyss that had been clouding the edge of his mind.

Less than three meters from where James was struck down by Moony, lay Lily, who was keeping her head in the situation, or at least trying to. Quickly Lily tried to get her bearings; from the shock of pain that ran up her left arm as she tried to move it, she concluded that it was broken, possibly in multiple places. She also lightly skimmed her fingers over the wounds in her side and across her upper body. Things were not looking good for her she decided; that was the last conscious thought that Lily had before she too succumbed to the darkness.

And that was where Dumbledore found them. Peter had run as fast as he could, but he got lost twice on the way to Dumbledore's office, had to spend six minutes guessing the password, and then when he finally got to see Dumbledore, it took him five minutes to tell the Headmaster the story in an understandable fashion.

Professor Dumbledore looked over the scene with a tear in his eye. The Head Boy and Girl were lying on the cold ground, their blood flowing freely out of their fresh cuts, mixing together and pooling around them in dark puddles on the grass. A third student was lying in an awkward heap near the two. And a fourth one of his pupils was probably increasing his own injuries at that very moment and going to suffer from severe guilt in the morning.

Albus Dumbledore quickly summoned up three floating stretchers. He carefully levitated each of the young people onto one of the stretchers and directed them towards the Hospital Wing. Then he made sure that the front doors were closed but not locked so that Remus would be able to reenter the castle in the morning. At sunrise Dumbledore would send Hagrid out to find Remus to back sure that he hadn't wandered out into the forest, but just in case Remus found his own way back, the doors would be unlocked for him.


	10. Just a Nightmare

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Harry Potter or Harry Potter related copyrights.**

James thrashed and fought against the strong force that was holding him down. No matter how hard he struggled, his restraints only seemed to grasp him tighter. And then, all of a sudden, he felt a cool cloth on his forehead and a calming voice drifted out of the dark sky.

"Potter, relax, settle down, it's ok, everything's fine, shhhh…, calm down, go back to sleep," said the soothing voice.

James relaxed his tense and tired muscles and just lay back. His breathing slowed and returned to normal, but the damp wash cloth did not leave his forehead. Then the cloth mopped his sweaty brow and patted the rest of his face.

How long he had been fighting the force that, in actuality, was the sheets of his bed in the hospital wing, he didn't know. But it had just been a horrible dream he supposed, just a nightmare.

At last the cool hand cloth left his face and the slight weight at the edge of the bed left, causing the old mattress to squeal. And then James opened his eyes. He was in the Hospital Wing and Lily was right next to him, eyeing him worriedly.

"Hey," she whispered into the darkness.

"Hi," he croaked back.

"Go back to sleep Potter, it's nearly three," said Lily in soft tones that James had rarely witnessed aimed at him.

"Did I wake you?" asked James, not wanting to let Lily leave him; his nightmare had really shaken him and although he wasn't on that great of terms with Lily, he didn't want to be alone. He would have nearly considered spilling his guts to Snape had he been there just then and expressed a slight concern for James' welfare.

"Yeah, but it's ok, I hadn't been sleeping well anyways."

"Me neither."

"I know," said Lily with a smile that James couldn't see in the darkness. "You were screaming pretty loudly. Do you want to talk about it?"

"Ok," said James convinced by her voice that sounded eager to help him. He sat up in bed, wincing but not making a sound so as not to seem weak in front of Lily.

Unfortunately, Lily noticed how stiff James was as he sat up; sitting up should be one fluid motion, for James, it was half a dozen disjointed movements. Lily smiled and said, "Hurts like hell doesn't it?"

"You have no idea," James breathed.

"Oh I think I do," said Lily as she turned so that she was in the moonlight and then she lifted up her pajama top so that James could see her bandages; they covered her entire torso.

"Ah," said James. That was all he was capable of at the moment as suddenly every reason why he had liked Lily Evans came flooding back to him.

"Actually it's more like an 'ouch'," said Lily quietly.

Suddenly a thought struck James. "Do you know who, umm, what, attacked you?"

Lily replied calmly, "The werewolf is a 'who'; his name is Remus Lupin; he's a good friend of mine. Perhaps you know him?"

"But he's a werewolf," said James hoping to decipher Lily's feelings about Remus' furry little problem.

"For one night he is," Lily started. "But the next morning he's just Remus again."

"But he attacked you."

"No, Remus didn't attack me, the werewolf did; I believe his name is Moony."

This threw James for a loop. "What did you say?"

"I'm not as dumb as I look Potter. Did you honestly think I wouldn't pick up on all of the clues? I patrolled with Remus for two years; I got more than a little suspicious when he bailed every full moon. Then you call him 'Moony'. I've had a suspicion he was a werewolf for a while now."

"Did you say anything to anyone?" asked James urgently.

"What do you take me for?" asked Lily. "I know what it's like to have secrets and I know how to keep them."

"What secrets do you keep?" scoffed James, not totally over hating Lily.

"There's a lot more to me than meets the eye."

"Like what?" James challenged. "I dare you; tell me one thing about you, that you swear to be true, that will surprise me."

Lily thought for a more and then said, "I ran away from home last summer."

"You what?" spluttered James. To James, running away from home was something kids did when they lived with people like the Blacks; people who could, and would kill you in your sleep without a moment's hesitation. Running away from home was not something that prissy, prefect, know-it-alls who have the world at their fingertips did.

Calmly, Lily repeated herself. "I ran away from home."

"Why?" asked James fearing that there was some type of abuse or something involved.

Lily shrugged as she lay out at the foot of James' bed. "I felt like it I guess. I had been planning it for a while; in fact if Sirius hadn't needed a place to stay this summer I would have never returned home after school ended. My mother knew it too; it's why she let him stay without any argument. She **knew** that I wouldn't leave as long as Sirius needed somewhere to stay."

"But why? Is your house really that horrible?"

"It's really complicated, but the short story is that I just couldn't bear to be live there for another moment. I needed to get out, do something completely wild and free. So, I did. I packed my stuff and left. I didn't even say good-bye to my parents."

"Did you go back home?"

Lily sighed in defeat. "Yes."

"Why?"

Lily turned her head over to look at James directly, "That's even more complicated than why I left. I guess I missed my sister and having a warm bed every night and knowing that I'd get three square meals everyday. It's amazing the things you take for granted."

"Where did you go?" asked James, confused.

"I lived on the streets of London and Paris and Rome and Dublin and Venice and Prague and Moscow and Copenhagen and St. Petersburg, just about any famous European city you could think of. Every day I apparated to a different city and saw the sights, and at night… well sometimes I found a roof to put over my head, and other times I didn't. Park benches really aren't all that bad."

"You slept on park benches?!"

"And in doorways… sketchy motel things… it's not all that bad in warm, dry weather, but when it rains, it just sucks."

"I can't even imagine."

"No I don't think you can, heir of the biggest fortune in Britain," teased Lily.

"Hey!" protested James. "I saw your house; you can't say a thing to me!"

"That's not my world," said Lily sadly; all lightheartedness was immediately sucked out of the seven foot area in which James and Lily were currently residing. "I think that's why I left. I just wanted to get out. I felt like I was drowning. Have you ever gotten that feeling where you just feel like you're in a cage and you've been trying to unlock it from the inside only to find that the jailor is standing right outside the bars holding the keys just outside your reach, shaking them before you and laughing?" Lily sat up as fast as she could given her condition and regarded James with an intense stare.

"A little bit sometimes," James admitted. "Not like you though, it's just some pressure. You know, from parents, friends… nothing that can't be solved with a good trip on my broomstick."

Lily pulled her knees up against her chest and stroked the bandages that covered her calves absently. "Sometimes I'm afraid that one day, I won't be able to fix it by running off around Europe for a fortnight. That one day I'll wake up and there won't be any hope for me anymore."

"No one is in charge of your destiny except you."

Lily shook her head slowly. "My mother will probably have me married off within months of graduation. I have no hope."

"I don't get it."

"My mother wants to marry me off to some rich guy to increase her own wealth and status. If I don't do what she wants, there is all possibility that she won't allow, well pay, for me to go to school. She's being holding my tuition over my head for years; I basically have to do whatever she wants."

"But school's almost over."

"I want to go to the university."

"That complicates things."

"Ummm," agreed Lily. "The only thing I can hope for right now is that whomever I become engaged to will understand and let me finish school and live as a witch."

"What about your boyfriend?"

"What about him?"

"Is he 'the one'?" asked James while thinking ironically that not long ago he wanted to be the one for Lily.

"Right now, it's looking like it."

"Waiting for another offer to come along?"

"You could say that. But, he said that me being a witch was okay with him, and he would even pay for me to go to school if my parents wouldn't, once we were engaged of course."

"That sucks."

"You could say that again."

"That sucks."

Lily laughed quietly and regarded James curiously. He just gave her a big grin in return. He decided that he liked making her laugh.

"Why don't you tell your mother to sod off and do what you want?"

"I wish. But sadly, there's this little thing called money in my way."

"And there's a little thing called scholarship to get in her way."

"Don't worry about it; I'll figure something out," said Lily as she realized that she had just spilled her inner most secrets, well some of them, to James Potter. She definitely didn't want him to think she was asking him for favors.

"Just promise me something?" asked James, not really listening to the words he was saying until they came out.

"What?"

"Wait for the better offer."

"Why? You got one for me?"

James instantly felt very hot as blood rushed to his face. "N-n-no, just… just promise me, okay? I'd hate to see you throw your life away like that."

Lily smiled to herself in the darkness. "Okay."

A brief comfortable silence came over them until Lily asked, "Weren't you telling me your dream? I'm sorry we got so side-tracked on my miserable existence."

'_I'm not'_ thought James. "Yeah, but I don't really remember it anymore. It seems like you chased it away."

"Yeah right," Lily scoffed. "No need to be a manly man in front of me Potter. There's no one to impress here."

"What? You think I shouldn't try to impress you?"

"No, you can try. By all means, go ahead. I'll just warn you, I am far from being able to be impressed by anyone from the male gender."

"And why is that Miss Evans? Not all of us blokes are all that bad you know."

Lily raised her eyebrow at him though he couldn't see it. "Trust me, you all are."

"And what about your boyfriend?" _Why do I keep bringing him up? _James wondered. Little did he know that Lily was thinking the same thing.

"He doesn't impress me," replied Lily. "I just tolerate him."

"How gracious of you, your majesty."

"It's the least I can do for my loyal subjects," she joked. "So are you going to tell me your dream or not?"

"Yeah sure. Well, it started out when I was in Diagon Alley. And then suddenly I was attacked by a tiger that was purple and green. The tiger was about to jump on me when it turned into a statue, but it was a furry statue. And then there was this big gust of wind and the fur came off of the statue and blew over to me. It got in my hair and in my mouth and stuff and I started to choke.

"As I was choking the scene changed. All of a sudden I was under water. And then I was drowning. As I was drowning I saw some weird things."

"Like what?" asked Lily softly.

"Like really, just, odd things. Like flying, well swimming, pants going by my head and swarms of angry underwater bees, and there were a few clowns with balloons trying to get me to join them and go to their underwater circus."

Lily silently shook with laughter. "There were clowns?"

"Yes, underwater clowns, quite a bit more scary than just regular clowns," said James, trying to be serious.

"I can only imagine."

"Alright, so anyways, after the _terrifying_ clowns, I was suddenly not underwater anymore. I was in this living room. Somehow I knew it was your living room, but I really don't know what your living room looks like, but it just was your living room."

"Yeah, I get what you're saying, move on."

"Ok, so I was standing in your living room and a lot of people were there. It was you, Remus, Sirius, Alice, Marlene, Peter, Julie and a bunch of other people and they were playing truth or dare?. And it was Sirius' turn. He asked Alice truth? or dare? and she wisely picked truth. He asked her some ridiculous question."

"What was it?" interrupted Lily.

"I think he asked her if she liked to wear war paint on her armpits."

"And what did she say?"

"She said no, she only liked to wear strawberry jam in her ears."

"So what happened next?" asked Lily quietly but eagerly.

James didn't answer at first. He stared off into space for a moment, reliving the next few scenes of his dream until Lily's voice brought him back, "Is this where it got bad?"

"Almost," said James softly. He cleared his throat and continued, "Well, before Alice could take her turn, Remus turned to me and asked me if I had remembered to bring the protective cucumbers."

"The what?"

"I swear to Merlin that he said 'the protective cucumbers'."

"Ok Potter, whatever you say."

"Anyways, after he asked me about the protective cucumbers, I was naturally confused. I said, 'What cucumbers?' And he then said, 'You mean that you didn't bring the protective cucumbers? We're all doomed!' Then the room got deathly quiet and everyone was looking at me. Then all of a sudden, out of the coffee table rose a person who was covered entirely by a black cloak. He stood on top of the table and then held out his hand and somehow summoned his minions. They jumped in through the windows and somersaulted across the floor. Then they stood up and the guy on top of the coffee table pointed at me. They rushed over to me and pined me against the wall, one on each side. With another wave of his hand, the cloaked guy had all of you guys standing between him and me. Without a word he killed just about all of the seventh years, except for the Slytherins of course, cause they weren't there and except for you, and Sirius," said James as the tears began to form behind his eyes. The faces of his friends when they died before his very eyes were so vivid and clear. It had all seemed so real, and with the reports that were flowing into the newspaper every other day, it could be. James, as Head Boy, had already had to comfort a handful of students when they received the horrible letters that told them of a relative's death.

Lily waited patiently for James to continue his story. Finally, he drew in a deep, calming breath, and went on, "So, then the man in black said to me, which do you choose?' He pointed to the two of you. I told him that I couldn't choose between you two, that I chose you both. So then he replied, 'Well then you choose them both for death!' And just as you were falling to the ground; your parents walked in with the Minister of Magic. For some reason they couldn't see the people in black and they thought that I had killed you all. Twenty aurors swarmed the room just as the man in black and his cronies just disappeared into thin air. The surrounded me and carted me off. And then that was where I woke up."

"It was just a dream James, it wasn't real," said Lily quietly.

"I know, but it seemed really real. I had to watch everyone die right in front of my face."

"Just because you forgot to bring the cucumbers," said Lily.

"Yup those darn cucumbers, I never liked them anyways!" said James loudly.

"Shhh…" warned Lily. "Sirius and Remus are sleeping right across from us."

"How are they?" asked James, lowering his voice back down to a whisper.

"Remus is pretty beat up and he feels terrible about everything that happened, but over the course of like four hours, he and Sirius made up.

"Sirius was pretty badly bruised by the Whomping Willow, but he's doing better now and should be released tomorrow afternoon, well I guess that it's actually this afternoon now.

"Remus, I believe, is scheduled to be let free around dinner time tonight."

"And me?" wondered James.

"Madame Pomfrey will probably keep you for another day since you took so long to wake up."

"What do you mean?"

"We've all been in here for more than a day already, today will be the second or third... Wait, let me think about this. This meeting with Dumbledore was on Wednesday… the full moon was Thursday… I woke up yesterday afternoon which was Friday and today is Saturday. Got it."

"You mean I have been out of it for an entire day?" asked James.

"That is exactly what I mean."

"Any other news?"

"Yeah," said Lily. "All four of us have to miss the Hogsmeade trip today and you have a pile of chocolate and 'get well soon' cards at the end of your bed."

"Really?" he asked straining to see if said pile was visible.

"Yeah, and just about every single girl, your entire Quidditch team, and Peter have been in here asking for you constantly. Professor McGonagall is going crazy, I'm told, because of all the girls that are faking injuries and illnesses just to get to the hospital wing to see you, Sirius and Remus."

James smirked to himself, "What's the current story going around about the nature of our injuries?"

"Well fortunately, only a couple of people were actually looking out of any of the windows of the school, and they were rounded up and their memories were modified. So they are now spreading the rumor that they saw a great beast come down out of the sky. Then it stood on the lawn and started to howl or sing or something. Apparently Remus and I were attracted to this music, so we just had to run through the halls. And by the 'Marauder magic' you and Sirius realized what had happened, chased after us and broke the spell we were under while Peter ran to get Dumbledore."

"Well, the running to Dumbledore and the Marauder Magic parts were right," said James happily.

Lily didn't respond for a while. Then she said, "So, illegal animagi?"

James internally winced; he could just feel a lecture coming on. "Yeah."

"Since when?"

"Fifth year."

"Impressive," said Lily curtly.

"We did it to help Remus."

"That's really thoughtful of you guys."

"It was the only way we could think of to help, besides giving him chocolate after the full moon."

Lily wasn't showing any emotion through her voice and James didn't have his glasses on, so even if he could see through the darkness, he wouldn't be able to read her facial features for any hints either. "What if you get bitten?"

Lily actually sounded worried and that surprised James. What he didn't realize was how close she had gotten to being bitten herself.

"We'd never get bitten," boasted James. "We've been animagi for a while now and we're pretty good at it, and besides werewolves don't attack animals, just humans."

"The eight inch long gashes on your side say otherwise," said Lily angrily. "It's amazing that the three of you haven't been torn to shreds by now."

"Usually Remus is pretty manageable with us around, but he goes crazy when he smells humans, so this was our first ever occasion of serious injuries."

"What do you consider serious?"

"Eight inch long gashes," replied James light-heartedly.

"The four of you are all mad," pronounced Lily. "Yet, it's really brave and kind of you guys to stay with Remus. I can't imagine how hard this all is on him."

"He never wanted us to try," said James. "He was afraid something like this would happen."

"He feels terrible," stated Lily as she glanced over to where Remus lay sound asleep in his hospital bed.

"Have _you_ talked to him?"

"Yeah, he has apologized like fifty times now," exaggerated Lily.

"Did he tell you that it would be ok with him if you shunned him for the rest of your life because you found out that he was a werewolf?"

"Yes, and of course I told him that he was being absolutely ridiculous and that I wouldn't ever dream of treating him any differently because I had found out about his…" Lily struggled to find a word to accurately describe the terror that Remus went through during the full moons.

"Furry little problem," supplied James with a toothy grin.

"Furry little problem?"

"That's right," responded James.

"The best you could come up with was furry little problem?"

"Give me a break, I was twelve."

"You've known about this for five years?"

"Actually, Sirius, Peter and I put our heads together and figured it out. Then we confronted Remus about our suspicions and he cracked under pressure."

"So not once during these five years have you been able to provide a more suitable name for this occurrence?"

James shrugged. "What can I say? The name stuck."

Lily laughed softly but then asked a serious question. "So who actually knows about this?"

"Well Dumbledore, the teachers, Pete, Sirius and I…" James' voice trailed off. "And now you."

"Yes," said Lily quietly. "And now me."

Lily's gaze wandered over to where Remus was moaning and tossing in his sleep. She felt so badly for him; she just wanted to hug him and tell him that it was all just a nightmare; he didn't just almost murder or maim three of his only friends; he wasn't a werewolf; it had all been just one bad dream. Unfortunately, Remus' trauma was not as easily solved as James'.

Just then a clock rang out the hour. It was four in the morning. Lily snapped out of her sad reverie and turned back to James.

"We had better get back to bed," she said. "If Madame Pomfrey finds out that I didn't wake her up to fuss all over you as soon as _you_ woke up, she would have a fit."

"You're right," James replied. "Good night Lily, and… and thanks."

"Any time Potter, pleasant dreams," said Lily as she got up from the bed and stiffly walked back over to her own bed across the cold stone floor.

After a few minutes of sheet rustling, comforter adjusting, pillow fluffing and rolling over, James and Lily finally each found their comfort spots and eventually drifted off to sleep.


	11. Tears in the Night

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Harry Potter or Harry Potter related copyrights.

It felt like only minutes to Lily before she was once again woken from her uneasy slumber by the sounds of struggle and of pain coming from James' bed; she had been dreaming of dark eyes following her in dark woods.

She sighed. Then she looked over at the two boys who, during the daylight hours, posed as his best friends. It was a miracle that they hadn't woken up yet. But, Lily was too compassionate to just ignore James, even if he had woken her up for a second time, and since it didn't appear that either Remus or Sirius were going to wake him up, Lily slowly pulled the covers off of her bed and got out.

Lily rubbed her eyes and walked as quickly as she could with her injuries over to James' side for a second time that night. Again, she sat down on the edge of the bed and began to call his name softly. This time, however, her passive method did not seem to work. So, she shook his shoulder gently and called his name a little bit louder.

James began to thrash violently and his face contorted in pain. Lily could only imagine what must be going through his subconscious. Where were these dreams coming from? Lily didn't seem to have a choice; she had to wake James up. Whatever pain he was going through in his dreams obviously felt real to him, and Lily wanted to end his suffering as soon as possible.

So, she walked swiftly back to the bedside table adjacent to her hospital bed, and retrieved her wand. Then she whispered an apology to James and proceeded to douse him with a jet of very cold water. He awoke with a start and sat bolt upright. James began to look around frantically, babbling incoherently.

Then Lily approached him quietly and placed a hand on his shoulder, "Potter?" she asked quietly.

James spun quickly, and in one fluid motion James grabbed both of Lily's shoulders and began to shake her violently. "Just finish me off like you got my parents and my best friend! I won't do your evil bidding anymore you foul creature from Hell!"

"Potter! Potter!" said Lily urgently. "Look at me! Look at me!"

Lily gazed directly into James' hazel eyes and maintained eye contact with him. James' eyes still darted nervously around as though he expected something or someone to emerge from the shadows at any moment, but he had stopped shaking Lily. His hands, however, remained perched on Lily's shoulders firmly.

"James, look at my eyes," ordered Lily softly.

James finally obeyed her command. He returned her glance and seemed to finally relax.

"You had another dream," stated Lily. "That's all that it was, a dream. You are in the Hospital Wing at Hogwarts and you are safe. Nothing is going to hurt you here," soothed Lily.

As Lily spoke, James visibly crumpled. His hands slipped from her shoulders, and he just slumped over, nearly crushing her. Then the tears started to fall. Lily felt so bad for him; it must have been one heck of a dream to make James Potter cry. She moved a bit closer to him so that it was a bit easier for the both of them. And then, Lily just let James cry on her shoulder while she rubbed his back soothingly and whispered anything she could think of that could be thought of as comforting.

And so they just sat there on a hospital bed in the dead of night; James clearly shaken and Lily trying her best to comfort someone who didn't even seem to realize that she was even there. In truth, James wasn't at all aware of his surroundings. But eventually, the dream began to fade and he could once more perceive reality for what it was.

"Oh Merlin Lily," said James as he returned to a clear state of mind. They separated and then James continued, "I'm sorry."

"Do you want to tell me what this dream was about?"

James pondered it for a moment and then nodded. "I can't verbalize all of it, but I will tell you what I can."

"Ok."

"Well, I had better start off with this; I now know who that man in the black cloak was from my first dream."

"Really? Who was it?"

"Voldemort," said James dully. Both he and Lily involuntarily shuddered slightly.

"How can you tell?"

"Because he was there again. I don't know if the person I saw in my dream is what Voldemort really looks like, but the figure was what my imagination came up with."

Lily nodded along, "Yeah, I see what you're saying; go on."

"Well, this time I was in my father's den. He and I were playing chess and my mother was near-by reading one of her romantic novel-thingys. Then all of a sudden these black shadows just suddenly appeared. They appeared out of nowhere. And then _he_ showed up in the middle of them. With a wave of his _hand, _Merlin Lily, he didn't even use a wand…" James swallowed hard and then continued, "He bound up my parents and had them dangling on either side of him. And then he turned to me and said that if I wanted my parents to live I had to join him as a death eater. I said… I said…" James' voice faltered. "My mother was telling me not to, but he just slapped her and told her to shut up. So I said yes. I said yes! I told the worst murderer the world has ever seen that I would join him and assist him!"

"It's ok Potter," said Lily. "You were trying to save your parents."

"That doesn't make it right though."

"But it makes you human," said Lily as she stroked James' arm gently.

"So I said yes, and then he told me that for my first act as his loyal follower," James shuddered. "That I had to kill my own parents."

Lily gasped.

"I said no. So he used the Cruciatus curse, on first my mother and then my father. Then he asked me again to kill them. I still couldn't bear to just end my parents' lives, so he tortured them some more until they were begging for death. And still, even when they were gasping on the floor as their blood pooled on the carpet, I couldn't kill them."

"I don't know of many people who could kill their biological parents on a whim, or even a command."

"Sirius probably could after all they've done to him."

"But, that's another story for another day; finish yours."

"Ok. Finally Voldemort got tired of waiting for me to kill my parents, so he just left them there to die and apparated away. On of his followers grabbed my arm and we apparated to my front lawn. It was there that I was instructed to cast the dark mark over my own house. At first I didn't, even after I had been given the spell, so one of the hooded people sent a hex towards me. After that I did what I was told. The next part of the dream kind of flashed by; I saw myself get the official generic cloak and the dark mark. And then I went on all of these "quests" with them to kill and murder and steal. And I became less and less aware of the things I was doing; after a while I didn't even seem to care anymore.

"And then I was ordered on a "quest" with Voldemort himself. We were about to kill an entire family of muggles whose daughter, who was a witch, was a particularly troublesome thorn in Voldemort's side. Supposedly, she was quite the rabble-rouser," said James with an odd sort of proud smile before he continued.

"I was given the task of actually killing them, as usual. After the demented death eaters had their way with the prisoners, I was brought in. I quickly muttered the killing curse and was about to step back into the group when aurors appeared. Everyone apparated away except for me, I just couldn't for some reason.

"Some the aurors swarmed me, put an immobilizing charm on me and left to search the rest of the house. I was left with two aurors, one of which was Sirius. He starred intently at the bodies for a minute and then stormed over to me. He was on some crazy rampage; I have never seen him so mad before. He used curses I had never even heard of, until I finally fell in such a way that my hood fell back. He gasped and said, 'What have I done? What have you done?' I was unable to speak. He continued, 'You don't even know who you killed tonight do you?' I somehow croaked out a no. He laughed, strange I know, but coming from Sirius it wasn't that unusual. He's one of those guys that just laugh when something strikes him as odd, not just at the funny things. So he laughed and then said, 'You just murdered the family of Lily Evans.' Then he laughed some more and then suddenly he stopped. He froze and fell over on top of me almost immediately after I saw a flash of green light erupt from behind him and sink into his back. And that was when I was pulled out from under Sirius and was dragged away. After that I woke up."

"Do you get these kinds of dreams often?" asked Lily.

"No. Never ones this bad anyways. I had dreams before when I get a letter saying my parents died and ones like that, but I've never had to kill them before."

"What do you think might have provoked such vivid dreams?"

"Probably reading the newspaper and just the whole full moon thing," James sighed. "All it ever has is bad news of torture and death and my dad says that it's only going to get worse. I'm afraid for them Lily."

"I can understand why. From what I've gathered over the years, your family has always been one of those pureblood families that actually don't believe in the whole "blood matters" philosophy. Thus, your family would be a prime target in this war. Your family is also well-known and now your dad is an active auror again."

"Yeah, it's hard for me to be here when he's out there risking his life all the time. I just don't want him to die."

"You're lucky to have him," said Lily with slight envy in her voice. "Sirius talks about him all the time. He sounds like a great guy."

"He is," James assured her. "And I know that he's a capable auror- but… I'm still…"

"Scared?"

James just nodded.

"I would be too."

A silence fell over the couple. Then Lily stood up and walked over to where Madame Pomfrey stored the majority of her potions. She rummaged around in there for awhile and then emerged carrying a large vial and a cup with measurements marked on the side. Lily sat back down on the bed and poured some of the potion into the cup. When she was satisfied that she had the correct amount, she handed it to James and said, "Here, drink this."

James took the cup and said, "I always knew you were going to poison me one day Evans."

Lily laughed. "If I were going to poison you, you would have no idea that you were being poisoned. I would have an elaborate scheme and you would never see it coming. So don't worry, that isn't poison."

"Well now I feel so much better. From now on I am going to employ Peter as my full time food tester. He has to take two bites of everything on my plate and if he doesn't die then I will eat it."

"You honestly think I would use fast-acting poison so that you could die right in the Great Hall? No, that's too easy to trace."

"Wow Lily, it seems that you have put some research into this; now I'm really scared."

"As you should be," joked Lily. "I like to kill my victims thoroughly, starting with their minds. You know, freak them out a little. So watch out!"

James looked down at the cup of liquid and asked, "So what is this supposed to do?"

"It will help you fall asleep and it will make sure that you don't have any dreams at all. I suggest taking it sometime soon."

James downed the contents of the cup with a grimace. "Well, compared to the potion Madame Pomfrey used to heal me from a potion explosion in third year, that wasn't half-bad."

"Then that third-year antidote must have been absolutely horrid; the dreamless sleep potion is disgusting."

"You've had it before?"

"On numerous occasions," replied Lily evenly.

"What for?"

"In my second year I kept having the same dream every night, and every night I would wake up in a cold sweat and be unable to get back to sleep. So after three days, Marly made me go to see Madame Pomfrey and she gave me this potion. I had to take it every night for three months."

"What was the dream about?" asked James hoping he wasn't being too nosy.

"My mother's death," said Lily as she turned away.

"I'm sorry Lily, I didn't know."

"Most people don't."

Something suddenly then occurred to James, "Want to talk about it?"

"I suppose it's only fair since I prodded you so much tonight," started Lily. "My mother and my three sisters, Petunia, Violet and Daisy and I were driving home from the mall one afternoon when suddenly, a car came speeding out of the opposite lane and hit my car head on. My mother immediately died and my oldest sister Violet, who was sitting up in the front seat, sustained severe injuries and died in a coma three days later. Petunia, Daisy and I were released from the hospital a few days after that."

"How old were you?" asked James quietly.

"It was the summer after I had turned twelve. Right after my first year at Hogwarts."

"So do you live with just your dad now?"

"No. Four years ago my dad remarried this witch of a lady and I don't mean that she has magical abilities. She torments Petunia and Daisy and she hates me; all she has been trying to do since she received custody of us is to marry me off to some rich guy. It's funny, Petunia craves the attention that she gives to me; I despise it and wish that she would just leave me alone like she does to Petunia."

Just then James yawned. "I'm sorry Lily," he finally managed after another deep yawn.

"It's just the potion taking affect," she said dismissively. "Good night James."

"Night Lily," said James and he slipped back under his blanket after Lily had arisen from her seat and fetched herself some dreamless sleep potion and a few potions for the intense pain that was starting to creep up on her.

James slept peacefully through the rest of the night.


	12. The Broom Closet Tour

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Harry Potter or Harry Potter related copyrights.**

"Hello Lillian," said Richard Gills suavely as he spotted his girlfriend reclining in a hospital bed. He marched over, his steps long and calculated, not one any longer than the last, his starched black robes wiping along behind him as he moved and his shiny leather boots clicking on the worn stone.

"Hello Richard," said Lily with a polite smile as she put down the book she had been reading. "What are you doing here? Didn't you get my owl?"

"Of course I received your owl," said Richard snidely. "And I decided to investigate your mysterious illness; I just wanted to make sure this was not one of your well-known dismissals."

"Well," began Lily as she gestured to her various wrappings. "I really am quite injured, though Madame Pomfrey has given me several potions for the pain, so it's not so bad."

"The wonders of modern magical medicine," sniffed Richard.

"Indeed," Lily agreed. "So, have you heard about the international student exchange?"

"How could I not? After all, I am a Defense against the Dark Arts professor, the selected subject for the accompanying educator exchange."

"I feared as much," said Lily with a typical aristocratic sigh. "You're coming here to teach, aren't you?"

"I cannot deny it."

"What shall we do?"

"You are quite capable of keeping secrets," said Richard with a piercing glare. "I cannot fathom why this one would be any different."

"I suppose you are correct."

"As always my dear."

"I suppose we are in agreement then?"

"We are in an agreement pertinent to what? You must be specific darling."

"With keeping our relationship a secret during your sojourn here."

"I would not have it any other way," said Richard with his characteristic grin, cold and derogatory.

"Neither would I," said Lily with a smile that would give a fellow ice queen the chills.

"Well, now that that is settled, we can move on to, other matters."

"Oh?" asked Lily coyly. "What more do we have to discuss?"

Richard cool façade wavered ever so slightly, but just enough to widen the coy smile on Lily's face.

Richard kneeled down next to Lily's bedside and whispered, "How good are you at disillusionment charms?"

"Good enough to get out of a hospital wing without being seen."

"Do you think you can walk?" he asked, looking at the gauze on her calves.

"Far enough," said Lily.

Richard smiled widely as he felt a cool sensation spread from his head, where Lily's wand had tapped him, to his feet.

"Let's go," he whispered to the nearly invisible girl next to him. As always when he was around Lily for an extended period of time, his rigid exterior melted away to reveal the ordinary youth underneath.

"Right behind you," she whispered back.

-----

"And just where have you been all afternoon oh rule-abiding Head Girl?" asked Sirius as he suddenly popped up in bed as Lily passed him to get back to her own bed.

Lily jumped slightly and then when she saw his smirking face, said, "Don't do that Sirius you great prat!"

"You haven't answered my question Lily," said Sirius tauntingly.

"Can't a girl get some exercise? I took all of those foul potions Madame Pomfrey forced on me, shouldn't I get a reward of some kind?"

"All you were doing was taking a stroll around the grounds?" asked Sirius suspiciously.

"Actually, I didn't leave the castle," remarked Lily. "It was just a long walk along the hallways to exercise my legs; they were cramping up quite badly."

Trying a different tactic, Sirius said, "Your lipstick is smudged Lily, I think we all know what you've been up to."

Unfortunately, Lily didn't take his bait. "I don't wear lipstick Sirius." '_Specifically for this reason, just too much obvious evidence.'_

"Damn," muttered Sirius underneath his breath but still loud enough for Lily to hear him.

"Alright Sirius, I admit it. I went to my dormitory to get my journal. It took me awhile because my wounds kind of still hurt. So now I think I'm going to get some more of that delightful numbing potion," replied Lily honestly as she showed him the plain notebook in her hands.

"Don't you think that you're off the hook Lillian whatever-your-middle-name-is Evans! I'm watching you like an offended hippogriff!"

"I wouldn't have it any other way," said Lily as she reached her nightstand and measured out some of the potion that was still there from the previous ways. '_I need someone to make sure that my lying is up to snuff_,' she added silently.

-----

"So, Lily," said James painfully slowly.

They were walking back together from Dumbledore's office after explaining the story from the previous full moon as well as they could without exposing the Animagi's secret. Remus and Sirius had headed off in another direction due to prior planning on James' part.

"What?" asked Lily tiredly. Her life was more complicated than ever. She and Remus had reconciled already, but that didn't solve all of her life problems- not even a fraction of them.

"Whoa? What's your issue? I was just going to ask you a simple question. You know, just start a conversation like _acquaintances_ tend to do," said James in an infuriating tone.

"Then go ahead."

"Not if you're going to hex me!"

Lily rolled her eyes. "I'm **not** going to hex you for asking me a question, unless I want to. It all depends on the question. No pressure."

"Scared of what kind of question I'll ask?" challenged James.

"More like scared for you when I answer it," said Lily, rising to the challenge. "Your opinion of me will never be the same."

"Is that so? Can I ask you any question?"

"Sure, but that's not to say that I'll answer any question."

"I'll make a deal with you; I won't ask anything I wouldn't mind answering myself and you have to answer all of my questions."

"I'll answer all of your questions if you answer them first."

"Deal," said James with a smirk. "First question: Where were you when you left the Hospital Wing yesterday? My answer: I didn't leave the Hospital Wing."

"My answer: none of your business."

"Not fair!"

"Neither was your question! But I gave you an answer, just like you gave me an answer."

"What were you doing?"

"Jumping off the Astronomy Tower," said Lily sarcastically.

"You were snogging him," said James matter-of-factly.

Lily didn't answer.

James jumped up and down beside her and said, "You **were** snogging him! I was right! You snuck out of the Hospital Wing to go and-"

Lily quickly covered James' mouth and said, "Shut up you great prat! I don't exactly want that particular piece of gossip reverberating off of these walls."

"Why?" asked James when he was released from Lily's grasp. "Are you **embarrassed** by your lover boy? I didn't get a good look at his face; is he disfigured perhaps? Or maybe he's a, gasp, Slytherin!"

James got down on his knees in front of Lily and said pleadingly, "Please tell me that the guy you were making out with, is **not** a _Slytherin_!"

"He didn't go to Hogwarts," said Lily. "So he's not technically a Slytherin or anything else."

James got up quickly, comically showing his "relief" by wiping his brow obviously. Then, catching up with Lily, who hadn't stopped walking, he said, "Does your boyfriend know about him?"

"Newsflash Potter, he is my boyfriend, hence why I snuck out of the Hospital Wing to see him. He and I were supposed to spend the day at Hogsmeade, but certain circumstances made that impossible, so he came up to the castle and I gave him a tour instead."

"Stopping at all of the local broom closets I'm sure," said James.

"My love life is none of your concern."

"Just tell me who he is!"

Lily was mute on the subject.

"Come on, I covered for you! You owe me!"

"What did you cover me for?"

"When Poppy asked if we, Sirius, Remus and I, had seen anyone come into the hospital wing, we said 'no'. And we also said that you had just left to go to the bathroom."

"That's too bad. I told Dumbledore about sneaking out with Richard when he caught me in the hallways returning to the Hospital Wing."

"So what's he like?" asked James after a long pause.

"Who?"

"Richard," said James as if it were obvious, which it was.

Lily shrugged.

"You mean, in all possibility, you're going to marry the guy and you don't have one thing to say about him?"

"Well, what do you want me to say? I'm not about to gush on and on about him. We're good friends; we work well together, bring out other sides of each other, balance each other out, you know, the whole ying and yang thing."

"You don't love him do you?"

"I don't have to."

"Lily, what is wrong with you?"

"A whole ton of things."

"But really, if you don't want to marry the guy, then don't! It's that simple, not exactly N.E.W.T. level Arithmancy."

"Which I take and pass with relative ease," Lily pointed out.

"You're avoiding the subject."

"Didn't we already go over this?"

"Yeah and I believe that I said that you should just tell everyone to sod off and do what you want."

"I'd lose everything," said Lily. "I wouldn't be able to visit my sister, or my dad. I would have no money, no where to go and no one to depend on."

"You have lots of people to depend on Lily, stop pitying yourself and being all pessimistic."

"**You don't get it**," said Lily slowly as she fought back tears. "No one offers scholarships to muggle-borns!" Lily stopped walking and spun to face James head on. "You have no idea what it's like to be judged as soon as you say your last name. Well, that's not true- you do! Except the moment you say 'Potter' everyone starts sucking up to you; the second I say 'Evans', I can see it flash across people's faces, they realize that that's not a wizarding surname. Some ask, just for confirmation; most just instantly get a superiority complex and decide then and there to put me down. Do you realize that there had never been a muggle-born Head student before Dumbledore became the Headmaster? And the last one, the only one besides me, didn't even last a _month_ before the taunts got to him and he resigned."

"Do people taunt you?"

"Ha! I wish! They send me threats, Potter. Adults, send me threats that if I don't resign my post as Head Girl, my life will be miserable. I'll never get a job, get accepted to the university, or ever get any financial aid. The purebloods have all the power, and they don't like me."

James listened patiently through Lily's little rant, but once she seemed to run out of steam, he said, "Are you finished now?"

As usual, the comment only seemed to deflate Lily more. "Yeah, I suppose that now I've made myself out to be a total self-absorbed million-pound charity case, I should stop talking."

"So I can have a go at ranting now?"

Lily shrugged. "Go for it."

"Not all the purebloods are as bad as you make then out to be. There's the Prewetts, the Greens, the Longbottoms… and my family of course. There's also Dumbledore; they are all people who will help you get were you need to go. I'd like to think that their influence is as great if not greater than people like the Malfoys. So being pessimistic isn't going to get you anywhere. If you really wanted to make something of yourself, you could and not even Abraxas Malfoy could stop you."

"You make it sound so easy James, but then again, everything comes easily to you now doesn't it?"

"Not _everything_," said James thinking of one girl in particular who made his life difficult.

"Name two things that are hard, actually _difficult_ for you," Lily challenged.

James scratched his head absently and thought. '_Quidditch? Nah, that always came naturally to him. Dating? Nope, easy as pie, well except for Lily or course. School? Uh uh, he passed all of his classes by barely cracking a book. Pranking? No way! He was awesome at pranking from the first time he tried it. Making friends? Not really, he was a very charismatic person and could make new friends at will. What else did people his age have trouble with? He wasn't a werewolf, his family wasn't out to kill him or disown him, he had bravery to spare…_

"I knew it," Lily voice cut into his thoughts. "Not even a single example."

"Well then you tell me something that you're awful at!" retorted James.

"I am really bad at singing. Everyone else in my family can sing, but I just can't. My singing teachers all but gave up on me when I was little," said Lily in a soft voice. It was always hard for her to admit that she wasn't as perfect as everyone thought she was.

James softened. "I can't cook," he admitted as the thought suddenly came to him. "Or draw, or paint or anything artistic and I can't…"

"Shhh," said Lily. "You don't want to give me too much blackmail material all at once, do you?"

James smiled. "Come on, let's get back to Gryffindor Tower, Sirius and Remus said they would grab our stuff and meet us there. Lucky us getting out of the Hospital Wing so early. That Madame Pomfrey is a genius."

"She certainly is," said Lily.

**A/N. Now that I've written some long chapters and some short chapters, I was wondering which you guys preferred, cause I can do either. **

**Please, please review! I'm getting only like 4-7 reviews per chapter and it's kind of really starting to get to me!**


	13. Lily Explodes

**Disclaimer: I would like to just point out once again that I do not own any Harry Potter or Harry Potter related copyrights.**

When James and Lily arrived back at the Gryffindor common room Sirius was no where in sight, but Remus was there sitting in an armchair by the fire. James sneaked up behind his friend and yelled "Boo!" Remus wasn't fooled.

"I heard you coming Prongs, but nice try," said Remus as he turned around and saw James' downtrodden face.

Lily took a look at James' face and fell into a near-by chair laughing. "James, the point in sneaking up on someone, is to do it quietly; notice the emphasis on quietly. You're supposed to use the element of surprise, which you can't do if the person you're trying to surprise hears you coming."

James sighed and fell into another armchair. "Why is the world out to get me?"

"Not the world Prongs," said Remus jokingly, as if things had never been stressed between them. "Just those who know you."

"But don't worry," added Lily. "We're recruiting more people every day!"

"Ha ha ha, where's Padfoot?" asked James changing the subject.

"Dunno," said Remus. "He was acting odd and just went up to the dormitory. Anyways, here's your stuff from the Hospital Wing and here Lily, this box came for you while we were talking to Dumbledore. It was waiting in the Hospital Wing when Sirius and I got there to get your stuff."

"Thanks Remus," said Lily brightly as she accepted the bag and box from his hands.

"Are you going to open it?" asked James as he lay sprawled across the chair's arms.

"If you guys don't mind," said Lily.

"Go ahead," both guys said in unison.

"Okay I will."

Lily smiled as she opened the box and shifted through the items.

"What's in it?" asked James impatiently as he got up from his seat and wandered over to Lily and her mysterious box.

"It's a care package from my best friends back home and my sister. Usually around this time they send me something. I don't really know why, it's just like a weird tradition we have. They send me a package during October; I send stuff for my sister's package in March; Jess gets one in late January; Mary gets one in May and the boys are too old to be sent packages now. My sister Violet started it for me when I first went to Hogwarts and then she did one for Jess and Mary because they were jealous. Jess, Mary, and I started one for Daisy when she started boarding school," Lily explained.

"But what's in it? Anything good that you'd like to share?" asked James hopefully as he wandered over to Lily's chair.

"Leave Lily and her package alone Prongs; it's her package and you usually get one from your mom every other week."

"Yeah, but I always _share_," protested James.

"Don't worry, I _share_," said Lily, putting the same obvious emphasis on the word as James had. "It's just that that doesn't necessarily involve you!"

As she said the last word, Lily tapped James on the nose coyly.

"You're in for it now Evans!" said James as both he and Lily sprang up and running around the common room, care package totally forgotten until Remus inched towards it, curious himself.

"Don't you dare Lupin!" said Lily as she nimbly side-stepped James' attack. But then shrieked because he had actually faked her out and she ran right into his arms.

Remus shook his head as James mercilessly tickled Lily. _They definitely like each other as more than friends and don't even know it… if only the rest of the common room was here and not out of the grounds enjoying the tail end of one of the last warm days of the year, then I wouldn't be the only one to know…too bad that Sirius is missing this as well; he would tease James for weeks about this…_

Eventually Lily cried mercy and then smacked James good-naturedly on the shoulder, and flounced out of the room and up to the dormitory with her box. Then she returned not two minutes later with a huge smile on her face and said, "Let's go down to eat dinner! I'm sure most of the rest of the school is there already."

James and Remus just looked at each other confusedly. _Girls…_ they both thought silently.

"Come on you lugs, let's get going!" called Lily.

"Someone has to go get Sirius," said Remus.

"Not it!" called James as he touched his nose.

"Not it!" cried Remus mimicking James' actions.

"What?" asked Lily with a laugh. "You two are bonkers!"

She did however, go up the boys' staircase to retrieve Sirius.

"Hey Sirius! Time to go eat…" her sentence drifted off when she saw what Sirius was doing. He was reading what looked like her journal. "Is that what I think it is?" asked Lily with a shaky finger pointed at the notebook.

Sirius looked guiltily from Lily back to the notebook in his hands. He gulped; he hoped she wouldn't hex him _too_ badly.

Lily's eyes widened when he didn't reply. All of a sudden, the book was in her arms and she raced down the boys' staircase with it. Sirius could only stare dumbly after her… he didn't _mean_ to read her journal, but when he and Remus went to go get her and James' stuff from the Hospital Wing, it had just been sitting there innocently, as if waiting for Sirius. What was worse is that Sirius knew it was her journal too, she had showed it to him when she came back from her afternoon rendezvous. Then once he opened it, he couldn't help but continue. Obviously, Sirius regretted it all now though; the look on her face gave him stomach pains like when he realized that sending Snape down to the Shrieking Shack was not his best idea.

Sirius just sat there, feeling sorry for himself and anticipating a very soon and very cruel death when all three of his best mates arrived in the dormitory, Peter having just met up with James and Remus in the common room.

"What did you do?" asked Remus and James at the same time.

Peter looked confused; he had only seen Lily run down the staircase with a thin notebook in her hands looking as if dementors were up in the dormitory.

"He read her diary!" shouted Peter as the puzzle pieces arranged themselves in his mind.

James and Remus were both shocked.

"You did what?" asked Remus.

"How could you?" wondered James.

Sirius answered, "I didn't mean to at first, but the bloody book was all but calling to me! Then once I started, I couldn't stop. You wouldn't believe what is in there…"

"Of all the things to do to the poor girl!" said Remus. "Why read her journal?"

Lily interrupted the little scene at that point. "Come on boys, what are you waiting for? Dinner should be on the table by now."

The four boys turned to her with shocked looks on their faces. Who was she? Lily didn't have a single tear on her face; she wasn't gripping her wand and shouting death threats at Sirius; she didn't even look very upset. In fact, no one would be able to spot a difference in her normal behavior except for the fact that the easy tone in her voice was gone and she was speaking much more quietly now, not with the usual Lily enthusiasm.

"Yeah, we're right behind you," said Remus as he cleared his throat and broke the spell on all of them.

Lily nodded and left the doorway to the dorm. James, Peter and Remus all filed out behind her with Sirius trailing far behind.

Dinner was somewhat of a quiet affair. Lily had left the boys as soon as they entered the Great Hall and sat with her own friends, a big smile on her face, a big _fake_ smile.

Midway through dinner, Sirius finally said, "Look guys, I messed up and I regret it, but why in Merlin's beard are you three so worked up about it? You act as if I've committed high treason or broken a Marauder's Law. I haven't. I didn't even do anything against another _Marauder_."

"She might as well be a Marauder," said Peter with a rare showing of resistance against Sirius.

"He's right," said Remus. "You have to admit, Lily is as involved in our lives as she would be if she were a Marauder. She knows half of our deepest secrets; she was there for each of us when we weren't even there for each other."

"Moony has a point. Padfoot! For Merlin's sake, she took you in for the summer and gave up her own freedom to do it," said James.

"What was that last part Prongs?" asked Peter.

James sighed heavily, him and his big mouth! "She wanted to run away from home, but if she did then you wouldn't have anywhere to go."

"I kind of knew that," mumbled Sirius.

"I knew something was bothering her, but I didn't know what…" said Remus as he thought back to the train ride where Lily had looked, physically, better than ever, but spiritually didn't carry the same confident presence.

"So what did it say in her diary?" asked Peter as things cooled down.

That earned him a smack upside the head from James and a kick under the table from Remus.

"Kidding!" said Peter as he threw his hands up in mock surrender. "Since when do you lot take things so seriously?"

The three looked rather downcast.

"Things are getting serious outside of Hogwarts Wormtail," said James. "I guess we're just, dare I say it, growing up!"

The Marauders all laughed at James' over-dramatic statement, and things were returned to the normal light-hearted conversation. While the conversation carried on behind him, James sneaked a look over at Lily, who was sitting a little farther down the table.

She was idly twirling her fork around in her mashed potatoes, not really speaking unless spoken to, just lost in a world of her own. She didn't even notice James' stare, which she usually had a knack for sensing.

James returned his attention to the rest of the Marauders to avoid any questions, but every once in a while took a sneak peak at Lily. He was more than mildly concerned. She had just started being like a real friend to him; she let him in on her life and her problems and she listened to his problems with a different insight and perspective than his friends, who sometimes had the emotional capacities of gingerbread men. It was like watching a turtle slowly poke its head out from a shell and then retreat at a sudden movement.

So, when Lily got up to leave dinner early, it didn't escape James' notice. James' departure didn't escape the notice of the Marauders, but they let him go without question.

"He's got a crush on her," they all chanted in almost perfect unison as soon as James was out of earshot. Then they all cracked up for several minutes, earning themselves weird looks from the other diners.

James followed Lily as she quickly walked through hallways and up stairs, through passageways and down stairs. Pretty soon even he, a Marauder who knew the castle better than he knew his own dormitory, was out of ideas for Lily's possible destination.

Finally Lily entered a deserted classroom in a remote corner of the dungeons.

What James saw when he walked into the room not long after her astonished him. He was sure that he had never been in that room before because he surely would have remembered all of the cauldrons simmering away, the extensive collection of books on one wall and a ton of stuff that was scattered around looking as if it belonged in their Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. There was also a blackboard on the far wall with Lily's writing on it, though James couldn't make out what it said from his distance.

"Can't you take a hint?" asked Lily as she whirled on James.

"What?"

"I went the most roundabout way to get here and still you followed me."

"You could have just asked me not to follow you," James pointed out.

"And would you have?"

"Maybe," James said unconvincingly.

"I know you far too well James Potter; I had a feeling that I had to shake you or confront you at this point," said Lily with a sigh.

"So what is this place?" asked James as he ventured in farther.

"It doesn't matter, please leave."

"No," said James in and infuriating tone. "I think I kind of like it here and want to explore a bit more. I've a very curious soul, as I'm sure you know all too well."

He was mocking her; it may have been in their unique teasing way, but still James Potter was walking on ice that was steadily melting as Lily's tolerance levels dropped.

"James, I am serious, for your own safety, just leave me alone," said Lily, her tone steely and resolved.

"What are you going to do Lily?" asked James absently as he wandered over to the bookcase. "Hex me?"

"Please go," said Lily. She was begging now. "I'm capable of more things than you realize and I'm afraid that very soon I'm going to lose control and lash out. I don't want you to be the one I release my emotions on."

"Lily I think I can handle it; I could use some dueling practice anyways," said James as he turned around to face Lily and got his wand out.

"You don't understand James!" yelled Lily, completely frustrated. "Do you remember that day you pulled me in from the storm?"

James nodded. He had nearly been impaled by a stick that day, and then once he and Lily had reached the entrance hall they had yelled at each other and she revealed that she had just been toying with him by pretending to date Remus.

"I made that happen."

"What? How? You can't do that," said James without even making an attempt at hiding his disbelief.

"Yes I can! Now go!"

"I don't believe you. That was just a storm, nothing more."

"I'm sorry James," said Lily. She took her own wand out and levitated James out of the room before he could say anything more. Then she promptly dropped him on his rear on the stone floor outside of the unusual classroom and closed the door. She also locked it, as James found out when he tried to get back in.

As James stood outside of the completely unremarkable door, ruffling his hair with his hand as he was apt to do when he was confused, he heard what sounded like a crate of fireworks being lit at the same time all jammed into the same space. Then all at once the sound stopped. It didn't become fainter with the passing of time; it just sounded as if it was all sucked back in like the rewind function of the Muggle V.C.R..

James was absolutely baffled. What was going on? However, his bewilderment only increased when Lily walked out looking as pleased as anything and just adjusted her skirt slightly.

"Hello James," she said with a radiant smile.

"Were one of those potions the "perky potion"?"

"What?" asked Lily with a cute little smile that James found very endearing.

"Perhaps a mood-swing potion…" mused James.

"You aren't making sense James, are you okay?"

"I think the question is, are you okay?"

"Couldn't be better," said Lily with true happiness behind every word. "But you look as if you need to see Madame Pomfrey."

"No, I'm fine. A little confused… but fine. Wanna walk back to Gryffindor Tower with me?"

"Actually I have to go see Dumbledore," said Lily.

"What about?"

"Just some stuff."

"What kind of stuff? Head stuff? In that case I should go too."

"No, it's more of a personal nature."

"Is it about whatever went on in there?" asked James.

"Seriously James, you should go get checked out by Madame Pomfrey; I don't think you're feeling alright. I gotta go, see you later!" said Lily as she dashed off without letting James press the matter further.

Lily was very frightened; it wasn't like her to just blow up like that. Sure there was that time with the storm… but she hadn't created that, just intensified it by letting her magic out slowly and evenly. This was like a bomb going off inside her and all around her and consuming her and it scared Lily… a lot.

Lily quickly got to the entrance of the Headmaster's office. She said the password went up the staircase. Then she knocked on the closed door; even when she was in a frantic state, Lily remembered her manners.

"Hello Professor," said Lily meekly after she had been called into the room.

Professor Dumbledore smiled at her over his half-moon shaped spectacles. "I guessed that I would be seeing you soon."

"Was it that bad?" asked Lily wincing.

"I wouldn't be surprised if Severus came running up here to ask what that disturbance was about. What caused such an outburst?"

"Pent up feelings I suppose. Sirius Black stumbled across my diary and, well, I was very angry and embarrassed and afraid."

"Afraid of what Lily?" the wise old man gently prodded his protégé.

Lily sniffed. Dumbledore was one of the few people who could make her break down like this. "Letting people know what I'm really like. I don't know if he read as far as two summers ago, but oh Professor! I don't want anyone to know about some of those things I wrote! I can barely read some of the entries myself!"

Dumbledore handed Lily a box of tissues he saved for thetimes students were in need of them, which had recently increased due to Death Eater activity. "Have you considered confiding in people? Perhaps you should just impart pieces to a variety of people you trust. You can't survive in this world alone Lily; everyone needs someone. These releases of magical energy aren't healthy for you; you know that."

Lily nodded as she blew her nose. "I know Professor, but the attack just caught me unaware, usually I can let off steam in more constructive manners."

"Like intensifying wind storms for miles around?" he asked with a twinkle in his eye.

Lily laughed the broken laugh that people have after crying. "Yes."

"Lily, you must be very careful from now on; magical energy is shifting with the activities of Lord Voldemort."

"I can feel it, sometimes it's very draining."

"You must hold onto the magic as hard as you can. Just do your best."

"I know Professor; I'll try to control myself better next time."

"Where were you at the time of the, for the lack of a better term, explosion?"

"Down in the room in the dungeons."

"Good."

"Professor, James Potter, was down there when it happened. He followed me and wouldn't leave me alone," said Lily very slowly. "I managed to get him out in time, but I didn't have time to reinforce the Silencing charms. He's more than a little curious now."

Albus pondered over this new development for a few moments. "Maybe you should tell him the truth."

"You can't mean tell him all about… my gift… can you?"

"I do mean that; I believe James is a very trustworthy person and a loyal and understanding friend. I think it would be safe to confide in him and it would do you a world of good."

"I'll consider it Professor," Lily promised.

"Please do Lily, we wouldn't want any more explosions, especially in a more public place…"

"Yes Professor, I understand that my gift is to be kept secret."

"You do a wonderful job managing such a heavy burden at such a young age," said Albus.

"Thank you sir," said Lily with a smile. "Though I must confess that sometimes it feels like the weight of the world is on my shoulders."

"In some sense, it is."

"Well good-night Professor. Thank you for letting me unburden myself as always," said Lily as she got up to leave.

"My door is always open to all of my students, especially those in need."

Lily smiled.

"Oh, Lily, before you go. I just wanted to tell you that I think you handled the whole situation concerning Mr. Lupin admirably."

Lily sat back down. "This has been bothering me Professor. I didn't use my power to contain Remus, is that such a good thing? Is it a bad thing?"

"What does your heart tell you?"

"That it was a good thing because everything worked out in the end; no one suffered any wounds that could not be healed and I didn't harm Remus."

"Do you feel as if you could have harmed Remus?"

"If I had tapped into my gift, yes. Adrenaline was rushing and I don't think I could have wielded it in moderation," Lily admitted.

"Then you made the right choices."

Lily brightened up at once. That was another load off of her chest. "Thank you!"

"My pleasure Lily. Enjoy your evening."

"You as well Professor!" said Lily as she actually skipped out of the office.

Dumbledore chuckled to himself; Lily Evans was quite a character, of that he was sure.

**A/N. Thanks for all of the reviews last chapter guys! I was so happy! Please keep it up! **

**On other notes, I have finished the seventh Harry Potter book and decided that a lot of my story is probably going to end up being AU because I want to stay with my current plot. However, some of the stuff that was revealed in the book will play a part in my story, so beware of spoilers!**


	14. Hello! My name is and I'm from

**Disclaimer: I would like to just point out once again that I do not own any Harry Potter or Harry Potter related copyrights.**

"I think we need to talk Sirius," said Lily as she cornered Sirius after their last class a few days after the journal incident. He had been avoiding her since it happened, and she was done with them being awkward with one another. It threw off the groove of all the Gryffindor seventh-years.

"Well I would Lily, honestly, if I just had the time…" said Sirius sheepishly as he tried to get away.

"You do have time," said Lily coolly. "You are coming with me right now and we are going to sort this out."

Sirius didn't dare argue with her; he just numbly followed her until she reached an empty classroom in a deserted corridor.

"First of all," said Lily as she closed the door behind them and hopped onto a dusty desk. "Which parts did you read?"

Sirius looked down at the ground. He dropped his bag, but didn't make a move to sit down. "A good deal, a bit here and there," said Sirius guiltily. "Look Lily, I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to read your journal! It's just you know how immature I can be and rash and I don't think things through… and I was curious cause you had acted so oddly on the train and I rarely saw you while I was at your house last summer. I just wanted to know what was going on with you."

"It's okay Sirius, I forgive you. We all do stupid rash stuff; I just wanted you to apologize and me to tell you that I forgive you so that you would stop avoiding me."

"So you're **not** going to hex me into tomorrow?" asked Sirius suspiciously.

"I could if you wanted me too," offered Lily as she whipped out her wand in a record time.

"No thanks I'll pass. Alright then, glad to know all that," said Sirius in a distracted fashion. "I'd love to stay here all day and chat, but I've got places to be… people to see…"

"Girls to snog, pranks to pull," finished Lily. "See you later Sirius!"

"Bye Lily," said Sirius as he shouldered his bag and left.

Lily gathered her stuff and left soon after Sirius, glad that she could check one more thing off of her agenda.

-----

"James," called Lily as she walked up to the seventh year boys' dorm. "The carriages are leaving in fifteen minutes, you have to hurry up!"

It was October 15 and time for Lily and James to go out to the carriages that would take them to the train station in Hogsmeade.

Lily received no reply to her call so she knocked on the door. This also received no response from within, so Lily just let herself in. The four Marauders were running all through their dormitory like Hogwarts was on fire and they were given three minutes to gather their most precious belongings. There was loud shouting and scurrying and cursing and the casting of locating spells. Lily didn't think so much noise could be made by just four boys; it seemed like the source of the noise should have been forty elephants

Finally Lily just sent a loud resounding crack out of the end of her wand. James, Peter, Sirius and Remus all stopped what they were doing and looked at her.

Lily glanced at her watch and then said, "James you have one minute to come down to meet me in the common room before I leave without you."

"We'll get there in time; I know a short-cut," said James dismissively as he returned to shoving things into a bag that was sitting on his bed.

"Two minutes tops James," said Lily as she turned to leave. "Oh and by the way boys, your dorm is an absolute pigsty. We've only been in school for two months; how did you get it this dirty this fast?"

"Lily," said Remus. "Our dorm has looked like this since the second day of school."

"We like it this way; it has a homey feel to it," said Sirius.

"Yeah and we'd never be able to find anything if it was clean," said Peter mockingly shuddering at the thought of a clean room.

Lily cracked a smile and left.

As soon as the sound of her footsteps died away, the four Marauders crowded around James' bed.

"So do you have all of the stuff?" Peter asked James.

"I think so," Sirius replied for James as he rummaged around in a big black bag that he held in his hands. "It seems like we have something for any occasion and of course all of the necessary ingredients for the big one."

"It's really disappointing that you aren't coming with us to the party Remus," said James. "It won't be the same without you."

"Yeah and just imagine how the castle is going to be for the next month without Pete and me," Sirius pointed out.

"Sounds like heaven to me," said Remus.

"I'm still amazed that Dumbledore is even letting you go," said James to Sirius. "I mean if _he_ can't keep you from playing pranks how does he expect some Indian guy to keep you in line?"

"Dunno, but I do know I am going to have one hell of a time in India! I am going to turn that school upside down!" said Sirius.

"And I am going to rock Iceland!" said Peter.

"I wish I were going," said James dejectedly.

"Look at it this way," said Remus. "Now we can pull all sorts of pranks and just blame it on stuff Sirius set up before he left. After all, we are the more trust-worthy Marauders."

"True," said James as he watched Sirius stuff some more stuff in his trunk. "Minnie seems to think that I've _matured_ or something since I'm Head Boy."

"I'm still wondering what Dumbledore was smoking that night," said Peter from under his bed where he was gathering his secret stash of chocolate.

"Wormtail! What are you doing under there?" asked Remus as he leaned down. "I knew it! I knew that's where your chocolate stash was!"

Peter just stuck his tongue out at Remus as he dumped the armload of chocolate in his trunk.

Then an aggravated voice drifted up from the common room to the dorm of the Marauders.

"Moony, make sure that they leave on time?" asked James as he paused in the doorway so that he could get down to the common room before Lily bit his head off. "A.K.A. in thirty seconds."

"Sure thing Prongs."

"_James Potter get your butt down here now!"_

"Better go Prongs," said Sirius with a snicker. "Your beloved is calling for you."

The three remaining Marauders burst out into full-fledged laughter as Remus made another joke. "Mate you're whipped and she's not even dating you yet!"

"I don't even like her that way anymore; we're just friends," James claimed as pulled out his wand, sent jets of frigid water at his three best mates and slid down the banister to the common room just as Lily was about to lose her mind.

"Come on Lily, if you don't hurry we'll be late. Honestly why are girls so slow at getting ready? If we're late I am _so_ blaming you completely," said James mockingly.

"Just go," said Lily as she shook her head.

"Aye, aye captain."

Lily shouldered her bags and followed after James.

Three minutes later they arrived at the front doors of Hogwarts and Lily had learned two new secret tunnels and one passage-way.

"Told you we'd make it in time," said James smugly. "When are you going to realize that I am always right?"

"When you stop being wrong," said Lily. "Come on before they leave without us right in front of our faces."

James smiled as he walked behind Lily to the first carriage that was reserved for the Heads. He liked the way things were going with Lily. She no longer thought of him as just a stupid, immature bully, and he didn't think of her only as a conquest anymore. Now they were friends, and everything seemed fine.

"Oh! This is going to be so much fun!" squealed Lily with a huge grin on her face as soon as they were settled in the carriage.

"If you say so," replied James dully. He was not looking forward to wearing dress robes and going to a boring ball with a bunch of people who cared a lot more about academics then he did, at least Sirius and Peter were going to be there. James had no idea how **they** had been chosen, Sirius still had detentions from the prank the previous June and Peter wasn't the most advanced student. However, Dumbledore did try to spread the representatives as evenly across the four houses, the sixth and seventh years and both genders as he could. And since Remus couldn't go for obvious reasons and James was the Head Boy… that only left Sirius and Peter.

"You don't think this is going to be great?!" asked Lily disbelievingly. "We're going to get to meet students from all over the world! Think about how much we can learn from them, all of the different cultures, and languages and customs…"

"I think this is more **your** type of thing," said James. "I'm fine with just being British."

"And here I thought you had a sense of adventure," sniffed Lily with fake disappointment.

"I have a bigger sense of adventure in my pinky finger than you do in your whole body," boasted James.

"Is that so?" asked Lily with both her eyebrows raised.

"Of course it is! I'm a Marauder after all; we live for the thrill of danger and excitement."

"You would think that coming up with excuses as to why you didn't do you homework or why you're late to class would take up all of your time, leaving no time for going on adventures," retorted Lily.

"It's better than doing the actual work!" joked James.

"I know," laughed Lily. "You should just hand in excuses instead of essays and get graded on believability and creativity instead of accuracy and writing skills."

"If only I could convince Dumbledore to change the curriculum…" said James wishfully.

"Then no one would do any work or learn anything and there would be this whole generation of incompetent wizards."

"But those incompetent wizards could just work for the Ministry and no one would be able to pick them out from the other complete imbeciles that work there. Well maybe the recently graduated Hogwarts imbeciles would have better excuses than the others."

Lily laughed. Lily never knew what to expect when talking to James. She could be laughing so hard she was almost crying one minute and then the next lashing out witty retorts. It was an adventure and she was enjoying it. It reminded her of the thrill she received from amusement park roller coasters.

James was just so different from her other friends at Hogwarts. Marly never liked to debate anything; she just knew what she wanted and she wanted everyone to do what she said and not question it. Alice was ok at debating, but she changed her opinion without much persuasion. So it was nice for Lily to find someone to argue with. James was just as stubborn and opinionated as she was, and that made him good competition for her. Their opinions were often opposites too, making the challenge so much greater.

"What are you looking at? Besides my positively irresistible good looks?" asked James startling Lily out of her thoughts.

"I was just thinking about how different you are from my other friends; you actually fight with me on stuff."

"We have pretty different opinions most of the time."

"And we're both stubborn enough to defend our views no matter what, right or wrong."

James smiled at her, "I've had plenty of practice in both situations."

"How modest of you, actually admitting that you can be wrong," said Lily.

"Is that what I said? What I meant was that I have had plenty of practice being right and arguing with people who are wrong."

Lily laughed and shook her head. "You are impossible."

"It's all part of my charm."

Just then the carriages came to a stop. Lily and James gathered their possessions and then stepped out into the Hogsmeade Station. James immediately walked over to the train so that he could make sure everyone got on the train safely, but he turned around when he noticed that Lily was no longer next to him.

"Lily?" he called.

She looked over at him and then moved from where she had been starring intently at the carriages drawn by invisible creatures.

"What were you looking at?" James asked Lily when she had caught up with him.

"You can't see them then?"

"See what?"

"You can't see what pull the carriages?"

"No. I always thought they just moved on their own, you know by magic," replied James.

"They're pulled by Thestrals," stated Lily.

James racked his brain trying to remember from his Care of Magical Creatures class what Thestrals were. "Why can you see them and I can't?" he finally asked.

"Because I presume you have never seen anyone die," said Lily stiffly.

"And you…" James didn't finish his sentence.

"Yeah; I saw my mom die, so I've been able to see them since second year. Marly and Alice thought I was crazy."

"They can't see them?"

"No. Marly can now because she was with her grandmother when her grandma died, but Alice still can't see them."

"I think Sirius and Remus can see them," said James slowly. "They mentioned it a couple of times a few years ago, but I had no idea what they were talking about."

"And you thought they were just crazy, right?"

"Well, yeah," admitted James. "It's weird, even in the magical world, for some people to be able to see things and others not to. Usually one involved party is thought to be off their rocker."

"And we both know that the seers are the ones labeled crazy."

"Pretty much."

Just then the train whistle blew as a final warning. James looked up and down the tracks but it looked as if the last students had scrambled into the cars.

"I think that that's everyone," said James.

"Yeah it looks like it."

Then Lily and James got onto the train and went to the luxurious, well slightly larger and more comfortable, Heads compartment and sat down with their stuff.

"Did you see Sirius and Peter get on the train?" asked James suddenly.

"Ummm…no," answered Lily as she settled herself down on the bench.

"Neither did I. I had better go make sure they got on," said James as the Hogwarts Express began to move.

"Good idea."

As James walked down the corridor of the train, Lily reached into her travel bag and extracted one of the novels her friend Jess had sent her in the care package. It was a comfort book; one of those books people read curled up in a fuzzy blanket with a cup of hot cocoa near-by in front of a roaring fire in a fireplace on a snowy winter day.

The book was highly entertaining, and Lily soon found herself engrossed in it. She didn't even notice that James had never returned until he called her name.

"Hey Lily," said James as he walked back into the car. "Sorry to leave you alone for so long; I lost track of time."

"Did you find Sirius and Peter?"

"Yup."

The car was invaded by silence.

"You can go back to them if you want," said Lily. "I'm perfectly happy here."

"All alone?"

"Sure. I don't get enough alone time to just relax. I have plenty of books to read and I'll be just fine."

"Ok, if you say so. I'll meet up with you when we get there then?"

"Absolutely. Bye!"

James left and returned to his friends to finish planning the havoc that they wanted to cause at the ball that evening. Lily returned to the world of her book happily.

Hours later, the train stopped. Lily sighed and put a bookmark in her second novel. Then she stuffed it back into her travel bag which she slung over her shoulder, grabbed her other bags that contained her dress and accessories, and left the compartment to look for James. She soon found him walking towards her with his bags in hand.

"We better get out onto the platform," said Lily finally.

"Yeah, so we can organize all of these overachievers," joked James with a grin.

Lily punched him playfully and commented, "I hate to burst your bubble and all, but now you're one of those 'overachievers' Mr. Head Boy."

"But I'll never compare to you Miss Head Girl."

"That's right you won't," said Lily. "Because I have overachieving down to a science."

"I would have to say that you do have it down to an art form that I could never hope to aspire to," said James as they walked out into the platform.

"Yup, you might as well not even try," said Lily with mock superiority in her voice.

James laughed and Lily joined in. Then they fulfilled their duties as Heads and instructed the others on the platform. Within minutes all thirty-two of them had made it through the barrier and had been settled in the Ministry cars. Soon they had arrived at the Hotel Guinevere. They checked in at the front desk and were escorted to their rooms.

The first three floors contained the rooms for girls and two floors above were the floors containing the boys' accommodations. In between the boys' and girls' rooms, as well as on each floor, were the teachers' accommodations.

In each of the student's hotel rooms there were two sets of bunk beds. No two students from the same school were assigned to share a room.

Lily said the password that was assigned to her room, because instead of keys, wizarding hotels like the Hotel Guinevere used passwords, and then she walked into the lovely suite. Because she was Head Girl, she had been afforded some privileges in the way of a room; namely she and three other girls were going to share a room that was more like a large apartment. It included a small living room, a kitchenette, a large fireplace and a separate room for each girl.

A moment after she had closed the door behind her, Lily saw another girl step into the living room from one of the bedrooms.

"Hello," said the girl. "My name is Rachel Brownsely, I am the Head Girl at Merlin's Academy in the United States."

Lily dropped her bags off on the floor and went over to the girl, and shaking her hand she said, "My name is Lily Evans and I am the Head Girl of Hogwarts which is located here in Great Britain."

"It's lovely to meet you Lily," said Rachel kindly.

"Same here," said Lily.

"I'm rather excited for the ball tonight," said Rachel after a short yet awkward pause in the conversation.

"As am I," said Lily. "I love getting all dressed up."

"Me too!" squealed Rachel. "Sorry about that," she said sheepishly. "I just get a little over-excited at times."

"Oh please, so do I," Lily said causing the other girl's embarrassment to fade slightly.

Just then another girl let herself into the room. "Hello all!" said the friendly girl as she saw the other two. "My name is Agnes Olsson and I'm the Head Girl at Svensson's Magical Academy in Sweden."

Only minutes behind Anges was Miu Sato, the Head Girl of the Japan School of Magic.

The four girls were chatting excitedly when Agnes suddenly asked, "How is it that I'm able to understand all of you? I have never spoken Japanese before!"

"And I don't know any Swedish," said Miu.

"It's a spell," said Lily and Rachel at the same time. This brought forth giggles from all of the girls.

Lily then elaborated, "We're all charmed so that we can understand and speak in each other's native languages."

"I must not have been listening when my Professor explained it!That makes sense," said Agnes. "This is so exciting!"

"I feel the same way! Now let's help each other get ready for the ball!" said Miu.

"Then we had better get cracking!" said Rachel enthusiastically. "I hope you guys don't mind, but I took this room," she said pointing.

"You were here first, it's only fair." Lily gathered up her bags and said to Miu and Agnes, "Do you girls have a preference?"

Miu shook her head and Agnes said, "Yeah! I want that one! Back home my room is on the right, so whenever I go anywhere I always take the room on the right. It's a weird habit I have."

"No problem," said Lily smiling. "Miu, do you mind if I take this one?"

Miu said, "It doesn't matter to me."

"Oh!" said Rachel as she came out of her own bedroom. "We all have our own bathrooms! I was so busy looking around that I didn't notice before!"

"This is so great!" said Agnes. "At home I have to share a bathroom with my two sisters."

"Let's all go take showers, get dressed and then meet up back here for hair, nails and make-up!" said Lily as she picked her magically weightless bags.

"Sounds groovy," said Rachel.

The girls went to their own bathrooms and took one of the best showers of their lives. They all emerged content and squeaky clean. They stepped into the dresses and then met up in their living room with their bags of beauty products.

As they helped each other get ready they compared their lives, shared their cultures and ways of getting all dressed up and told about their pasts. Finally they were all ready. Just as they were putting their things away, there was a knock at the door. Lily, being closest, answered it.

"Wow Lily, you look fabulous!" said Sirius as Lily opened the door to see the three present Maruaders.

"Thanks Sirius, you don't clean up too badly yourself."

"You ready Lily?" asked James. "We were wondering if you wanted to come down to the ball with us."

"Nearly," said Lily. "Why don't you guys come in for a minute?"

They all shrugged and walked in.

"Sweet place you got here Lily," said Sirius, whistling as he looked around.

"All I got was a bunk bed!" complained Peter.

Just then, the other three girls, who had been putting away their beauty products walked into the living room area.

"Boys, meet Miu Sato, Rachel Brownsely and Agnes Olsson, from Japan, America and Sweden respectively. Girls, meet Sirius Black, Peter Pettigrew and James Potter. They go to school with me at Hogwarts," said Lily making the introductions.

"Hi!" squeaked all three girls, who were very impressed by what Britain had to offer in the way of males.

"Hey," said the boys coolly.

"Anyways," said Lily finding this all particularly amusing. "I'm just going to grab my bag and then we can all walk down together."

"Okay!" was the general consensus.

Lily shut the door to her room behind her and then laughed as loudly as her corset would allow her. She grabbed her bag and then walked back into the awkwardly silent room which was divided into boys on one side and girls on the other.

"Ready?"

The girls held up their bags to show that they were ready and the guys nodded, smirks on their faces.

"Let's go then," said Lily.

"Right," said Sirius. "Let us escort you lovely ladies down to the ball."

"It will be our pleasure," added James.

Peter just smiled.

"I've got an idea," said Lily brightly. "Sirius why don't you escort Agnes, James go with Rachel and Peter with Miu!"

"That doesn't leave anyone for you Lily," Sirius pointed out.

"Which is a good thing because I have a boyfriend," said Lily.

"Right," said Peter. "Let's go then!"

"You guys go first, I'll be right behind you."

The couples assembled and then left, Lily trailing just a little farther behind. Once they arrived in the ballroom, the girls left the guys to join their own friends and Lily rejoined the Marauders.

"Having fun boys?" asked Lily.

"So many girls…" said Sirius.

James smirked and Peter just kind of drooled.

"Remember boys, don't get anyone pregnant and have fun!" said Lily as she drifted away to mingle.

"Yeah un huh, whatever Lily," said Sirius as he scanned the room for his first victim.


	15. A Breakup, A Death Eater and Dancing

**Disclaimer: I would like to just point out once again that I do not own any Harry Potter or Harry Potter related copyrights.**

Soon it was almost time to eat. Everyone quickly found their randomly assigned seats and sat down. Then they had to endure several lectures about friendship between countries, learning from each others' cultures… and so on. Eventually they were allowed to eat the food which was brought out by house elves on silver platters. The food reflected every nation and region represented at the assembly.

Because of the boring speeches, everyone had something to bond over and conversation didn't lack in any corner of the enormous room.

Much later the tables were cleared out of the hall and dancing begun. At first none of the self-conscious teenagers would dance. Then suddenly there was a couple on the dance floor. It was a gorgeous looking young woman with red hair and a dark haired young man who twirled her around expertly to the music. She was smiling and laughing; he had a huge grin on his face.

James was jealous. Though he loved being friends with Lily, he still, somewhere deep inside of him, wished that they could be more than that. Watching Lily dance with the stranger made his insides twist. _He_ wanted to dance with her and he wanted to see her smile like that when she was in his arms.

The song ended, and so did the dancers. Led by the man, Lily and her partner took a bow and received a great amount of applause. After that, there were few who stayed off of the dance floor; everyone wanted to impress the other nations.

As soon as they had taken their bows, the dancers slipped out of the ballroom.

"I never knew you could dance like that Richard," said Lily breathlessly.

Richard smiled back and said, "First of all, how could you see past my disguise? I spent a great deal of time perfecting my appearance."

"I just knew," said Lily shrugging.

"You thought I could only do waltzes and fox trots, did you not?" accused Richard playfully.

Lily grinned, "I must admit, it is true. But what has gotten in to you? I've never seen you this excited about anything."

"I don't know," said Richard, his eyes gleaming. "You just look so enchanting tonight Lillian. I've never seen you this happy in a dress before."

"And I have never heard you use contractions before!" Lily teased him back.

"I guess that I may just be excited because I get to spend all night with you, in disguise, but still. Professor Gills is up in bed with a headache, so Richard gets to play!"

"Really, Richard, did someone put a potion in your food? You are downright giddy!"

Ignoring her previous statement, Richard said, "Can we go somewhere to talk privately?"

"Yeah, sure," said Lily a bit curious at the sudden change of subject.

A few minutes later Richard and Lily had found an empty conference room.

"What are you so excited about?" asked Lily.

Richard, who had begun pacing as soon as he had closed the door behind them, whirled around and looked at Lily, an intense look on his face. "Lillian, you're a pretty talented witch; your Defense professor told me so. Also, I know that you're very bright. So, I wanted to offer you an opportunity of a lifetime. It's a way to use your powers for a good cause."

Lily was very upset by the gleam in Richard's eyes. "What cause is that?"

"One of my professors at Merlin's Academy first introduced me to the cause. Let me see if I can remember the wording he used… Well I suppose I shall just have to improvise. By now you know that some people have far more magical ability than others. Naturally, those who are born into magic are far superior to those who have _tainted_ bloodlines."

"Richard," said Lily cautiously. "What are you saying?"

Richard was getting agitated now. "There is a man who has been working for quite a few years now to purge the wizarding race of all those who are unfit to carry wands. First, he will convert Britain, but then his reforms will spread across the world. My old professor was one of his missionaries."

"Don't you understand that _I_ am one of the types of people they consider 'unfit to carry a wand'? I've known about this philosophy for a few years now. Every year the prejudice against me increases; it has hit a very high point this year. There are some who are calling for my resignation of my post as Head Girl because I am muggle-born."

Richard didn't say anything supportive in response to that.

"You really believe that blood is what makes someone superior to another, don't you?" gasped Lily, her eyes wide in surprise and disgust. "How could you? Your parents are muggles; they took you in…"

Richard hissed, "Never mention those filthy people to me again. They have only ever tried to hold me back from my full potential! I should have never been in that orphanage in the first place! I don't know where I would be if I hadn't looked into my parentage."

"You would be the same person!" said Lily, her voice rising. "You are the prime example of how blood does not matter!"

"It does matter! The Dark Lord is far more powerful than you or your precious Dumbledore dare to presume! He reign will come swiftly and without mercy. For years he has been gathering followers, causing certain people to go missing, ridding the world of a few muggles here and there…" Richard trailed off with a feral grin.

"They are murderers! They attack harmless, helpless people in cold blood! As much as you would like to deny it, muggle is every bit as much in your blood as wizard is. Next thing you know, someone you went to grammar school with will be the one lowered into the ground! This is wrong Richard! It's wrong and you know it!" said Lily desperately trying to win a battle that was already lost.

"No, you're wrong. Those people don't matter; they are only muggles."

"Muggles eat and breathe and laugh and cry; you should know! You live with them!"

"You shouldn't be so high and mighty! You're bloody morals are not going to keep you safe. He's going to come after people like you first- mudbloods who don't know their place. The only way to survive is to join him. Join him and stay safe."

"You know Richard, I never pegged you for a coward," said Lily as she looked at him warily.

"You are just a child! You have no idea what it is like to live in the real world. I am not a coward; I am just experienced. I no longer have delusions that everyone in the world is nice or that I can actually stop the dam from releasing the flood. Take my advice- join him. If you volunteer, he'll spare you, despite your bloodline. You're clever; use it to your advantage. You would go far in his ranks quickly."

"I will make something of myself, but I won't get there by killing people. This is where our paths diverge; I can see that you are going to stick to your decision just as much as I am going to stick to mine."

"Lillian Evans! You won't make it passed your twenty-first birthday, I promise you that!" yelled Richard as opened the door and he raced down the hall. Lily's calm words had infuriated him; he wanted her to be safe, but there was nothing he could do for her now.

"Nice guy."

Lily turned and saw a blonde young man with grey eyes staring back at her. He was casually leaning against the wall across from the conference room Lily and Richard had been in.

"You heard all of that?"

"Yup."

"Need a shoulder to cry on Lillian Evans?" he asked mockingly.

"No, I don't cry," said Lily with her head held high.

"I'll give you two minutes before you break down in tears and eat a tub of ice cream. I have an older sister, I know the routine."

"Believe me, I don't follow any routines," said Lily as she didn't even tear up. "**I will not cry**."

"Fancy a dance then?" asked the bold young man.

"Maybe if I knew your name," said Lily all but directly asking the student for his name.

"Leon Wagner of Germany, at your service," he said with a flourish as he took Lily's hand and kissed it. "Now would you honour me with a dance?"

"Yes," said Lily politely. "Lead on Leon Wagner of Germany."

Lily danced with Leon and a whole slew of guys. Once in a while she would get glimpses of the Marauders, but she didn't worry about them. At one point she thought that she should probably warn the girls that were fawning over them, but then she decided to embrace the 'live, learn and then hex the Marauders until their dying day' philosophy.

Finally Lily excused herself from her latest dance partner and made her way to where the punch was. She stared quizzically at the three punch bowls for a minute before she heard a voice next to her.

"Why are we staring at the punch?" asked the girl who was following Lily's lead.

Lily met the girl's confused gaze and said, "I'm trying to figure out which one my friend spiked."

"Do you know that it's spiked?" asked the girl worriedly. "I really wanted some punch…"

"I'm not positive, but it's something that one of my friends would do."

"Oh. Why wouldn't your friend just spike them all then?"

"Ella Satyanand from New Zealand; it's a pleasure to meet you."

"Lovely to meet you as well," replied Lily cordially. "Now what to do about this punch…"

"I think I'm just going to skip it; I'm umm…. I'm…. allergic to alcohol!" said the girl with wide eyes. "I'll see you later Lily!"

"Bye," said Lily with a smile and a slight laugh.

"Hey Lily," said James as he came over to the punch table.

"Did Sirius spike the punch?" asked Lily.

"What? No, 'hey James,' or 'hi James?' Even a 'how's it going James,' would suffice," teased James.

"Fine," Lily conceded. "Hey James, how's it going, did Sirius spike the punch?"

"Wow, two greetings in one, now I really feel special."

"You are such a prat," joked Lily as she hit his arm good-naturedly.

But James didn't respond; he was too busy looking over Lily's shoulder at Sirius, who was standing at the opposite end of the room and doing some weird sign language type thing.

"Hey Lily," said James absently.

"Yes?" answered Lily as a smile played on her lips.

"Do you want to take a walk with me?" as he asked this question, he looked directly into her eyes.

Lily didn't miss a beat. "Sure," she said casually, though last time she had taken a walk with a guy, she was practically threatened into joining the Death Eaters, was slapped across the face twice, and broke up with her boyfriend.

"Good, because I need an alibi," said James as he escorted her out of the room, pretending as if the only reason he had asked Lily was because he wanted to get out of trouble.

"What are you planning James?" asked Lily who was unable to hide the mirth in her voice.

"Nothing… nothing at all. Why would you even think a thing like that?" asked James with a grin.

"Why else would you need an alibi, Mr. Head Boy?"

"You got me there. I should have picked a dumber girl to be my alibi; you caught right on."

"Please tell me what you and Sirius and Peter have planned?" asked Lily hopefully.

"Nope; you'll have to wait just like everyone else."

"Pretty please with Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans on top?"

"No way," said James purposely avoiding looking Lily's face.

"For me?" asked Lily with a huge smile.

James didn't see the smile; he was too busy pretending to inspect the portraits in the hallway they were walking down. "I don't think so."

"Aw come on James. I can take a joke just as well as the next girl. You can tell me! Who am I going to tell? I'm not going to go rat you out you know," said Lily as she stepped in front of James so that he couldn't miss her hopeful smile.

"You'll appreciate it much more if it's a surprise," said James, whose resolve was steadily decreasing.

"Okay," said Lily as she stepped back into place beside James and they continued their stroll.

Out of the blue, Lily said, "Richard and I broke up."

"He's here?" asked James, unsure of what else to say.

"Yeah."

"I thought he was out of school already."

"He is," said Lily pointedly, hoping that James would catch her drift so that she wouldn't have to say it out loud.

James missed the point. "I don't get it."

"He's a teacher, one of the ones in the exchange."

"Which country is he going to?"

Lily decided that she might as well tell James the truth. "Britain."

"What?" asked James flabbergasted.

"Yup. My ex-boyfriend is going to be my Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. I think I can officially say that my life is totally messed up."

"Yeah. Messy break-up?" asked James as he looked over at Lily who was staring straight ahead, her face emotionless.

"One of the messiest. James, I think he's a Death Eater."

"Umm, that's a pretty harsh accusation to make. Why would you think that?" asked James as he ran a hand through his hair.

"He asked me to be one."

"He what?!" asked James, stopping short.

"Yeah," said Lily distractedly.

James gulped. "What did you say?"

"Oh! I say no of course and then broke up with him."

"Wow. Are you okay?" asked James.

"Fine."

"Are you sure?"

"Yup, never better. I'm not sure how my mother is going to take this news though…"

James was saved from contributing anything else to the conversation that was taking place way outside of his security bubble, when his watch beeped.

"Come on Lily, let's go back to the ballroom. Everything is all set up now."

James and Lily silently, but not awkwardly, made their way back down the hall quickly. Neither of them wanted to miss the prank that was about to happen. Just as James opened the door for Lily like the gentleman he was, the balloons that had mysteriously appeared on the ceiling during the party all simultaneously exploded. Wet sludge sprayed out of the balloons and coated everyone and everything, including the professors. Well, everyone except for James and Lily of course, who were standing in the safety of the doorway.

Within seconds, the disgruntled crowd who had been trying to dry themselves off gasped. The slime was gone, but then as someone noticed, not everything was right with the world.

Lily, who had the best seat in the house to view all of this, fell to the floor in laughter. James soon joined her as laughter seized his body.

Due to a prank set-up by the three Marauders present at the party, as the slime from the balloons dissolved into the clothes of the top students of sixteen prominent, prestigious magical academies, their underwear and clothes switched positions. All around the room, the pupils were gasping in horror and shock as they realized that their undergarments were now on the outside of their clothes. It was especially uncomfortable for the female occupants as they were wearing dresses and their underwear did not allow the skirts to flow freely.

After the initial shock wore off, laughter resounded in the hall. The laughter only increased as the administrators of the schools stood up from their table at the top of the room, revealing that they too had been hexed.

Outrage shot out from every pore of the teachers, Headmasters and Headmistresses. Some of the younger adults who were wearing undergarments that they did not wish their bosses to see just quickly sat down and put cloth napkins over their laps. Dumbledore took charge of the situation. Trying hard not to laugh, he announced, "Would the present Marauders please come to the front of the room?"

He then sat down and proceeded to have a violent "coughing fit" into his napkin. Everyone else began casting every counter-jinx that they could think of that would reverse the spell. Unfortunately, nothing worked.

James helped Lily up from the floor where they both had fallen and made his way to the front of the room. He joined the already present Sirius and Peter, who were both grinning like the mad fools they were. James, however, looked stern and not amused. All was going according to plan.

Professor Dumbledore, looking very stern, all except for the twinkle in his eye, requested that the three boys follow him and then he left the room.

The rest of the night went off without a hitch since two mischievous teenaged boys were conspicuously missing. James had been allowed to return to the party after his alibi vouched for him.

It was fortunate that James had thought ahead to get himself out of trouble, for two reasons. The first was that Professor McGonagall had been furious and handed out very intense punishments and would have removed his badge if he hadn't proved his innocence. The second reason was much dearer to James' heart. For the rest of the night, Lily had stayed close to James. They had talked with other students together, talked to each other, and Lily had even asked James to dance. All in all, it had been a fulfilling evening.


	16. Remus: Werewolf and Baby Daddy?

**Disclaimer: As always, I do not own any of the Harry Potter or Harry Potter related copyrights.**

"Lissy!" screamed Jessica Fairfax, more commonly known to her friends and family as Jess or Jessie, as she opened the front door of her big brother's London townhouse before her best friend could even ring the doorbell.

Lily had been saying something or other to James as she had reached for the doorbell, but whatever it was immediately flew right out of her head the moment she saw her dearest friend for the first time in over two months. Lily ran to her friend and enveloped her in a huge hug.

"Jess! I didn't know you were coming!" squealed Lily in unfeigned delight.

"It was a surprise for you silly! I didn't want to ruin the surprise!" Jess shrieked back with equal enthusiasm.

Just when Lily thought she was happy enough to burst, she found herself looking at several other very familiar faces.

"DANNY! TONY! MARY! I can't believe you are all here! This is amazing!" enthused Lily as she hugged each one in turn. "Benjy, how could you not tell me everyone was coming up?!" she asked with happiness saturating her voice as she hugged the man in question, who had stayed to the back of the welcoming party.

During the hug-fest, James just kind of stayed towards the shadows of the, figuratively speaking, stage; letting Lily get the limelight. As she advanced into the hallway to dish out more affectionate hugs, James just quietly slipped in behind her and closed the door gently.

After the initial shock wore off, Lily again became aware that she had brought a guest with her whom she was currently neglecting. "Um guys, this is my friend James Potter," said Lily as she grabbed one of James' arms and brought him to the forefront. "And James, meet Jess Fairfax and Mary Arnolds, my best friends in the whole world, Danny Arnolds and Tony Romero, also good friends of mine since forever and of course Benjy Fairfax!"

As she said their names, each person shook James' hand and looked into his eyes curiously. All of them had been on the receiving end of Lily's rants against the one called Potter, more than once over the years. To their credit though, each of Lily's friends mumbled a pleasant greeting to James, no matter how much they doubted his relationship with Lily.

"Why don't we all go and sit down," offered Benjy softly.

The group nodded their heads and began to migrate in the same direction without verbally deciding where to go. James just stuck to the back and was following the group when Benjy, who let everyone go in front of him, as was his nature, fell in step with him.

"I don't trust you," said Benjy without looking at James.

James curiously looked over at the man next to him. Bengy looked to be about thirty, though there were many creases in his forehead that made him look older, and burdened.

"What?" James finally said.

"I don't trust you with Lissy," Benjy's voice was very low and soft and kind of rough, like he didn't use it often, but it still seemed very intimidating and cold to James.

"You've only known me for three minutes, how can you already not trust me?"

Benjy stopped outside of the room where the everyone else was sitting and chatting happily and finally looked James in the eye. "I may have not known you for long, but Lissy has and the occasions where she has talked well about you have been few and far between. What are you hoping to achieve here Potter?"

"Nothing," said James as he put his hands up as if to show his intentions were honest.

"We're not done here," said Bengy as he glided by James and into the room, taking the unoccupied seat next to Lily.

It took all of James' willpower to suppress the eye roll that was threatening to escape due to Bengy's act as the overprotective older brother(in-law). Above everything else, it just struck James as odd that anyone felt the need to look after Lily; she had always seemed so fiercely independent to him.

"And how is Richard?" asked Mary with a giggle at the end.

James would have totally missed this question in favor of staying in the realm of his own thoughts had not Richard's name been mentioned.

Lily hesitated a moment, but then said evenly, "We broke up."

The girls gasped, the guys looked mildly surprised and only slightly interested.

"No way!" said Jess in disbelief.

"You guys were so close this summer!" stated Mary.

"And you even mentioned in your last letter that he had visited you at school…" said Jess as her brother looked at her and raised an eyebrow as if daring her to finish verbalizing how she knew Richard and Lily had a healthy relationship when he visited her.

"He just wasn't the right guy," said Lily with a glare towards her best friend.

Jess sighed, "Come on Mare, we have to pump this one for information! I can just smell the juicy background story!"

Lily allowed herself to be led out of the room by her two friends who flanked her sides to prevent escape. As she walked by James she mouthed 'I'm sorry.' James was puzzled for only a moment.

"So… James is it?" asked Danny as all three guys turned towards James.

"Umm, yeah," replied James as his hand went up instinctually to his hair.

"What's your grand plan here?" asked Tony skeptically.

"There is no plan," said James slowly and uncertainly.

"You might as well just tell us," said Danny. "We'll figure it out eventually anyways."

"There is no plan, I swear!"

"Why else would you be here if there wasn't a plan?" asked Benjy in his quiet way.

"Because Lily asked me too and we're friends. Besides our Headmaster said we could only skip the London tour if we stayed together."

"Why not just break the rules and do what you want? I've heard that that's the only thing you're good at," said Tony scathingly.

"Ummm…"

"How did you even get to be Head Boy in the first place? Was that part of the plot too?" asked Tony.

"Look guys, there is no plot. I was appointed Head Boy and I've been doing my best to limit the rule-breaking this year to a bare minimum so that I don't let everybody down. Lily and I called a truce because Dumbledore said we had to stick together on this trip, so we decided we might as well not be trying to kill each other. That's it. We're kind of sort of… friendly acquaintances now, but there is no plot!" said James emotionally.

"Sure…" said Danny totally unconvinced.

"What's with the third degree anyways?" asked James.

"We just don't want Lissy to get hurt," explained Benjy. "She has enough on her plate without having to worry about a relationship at school on top of everything."

"Yeah," Danny chimed in. "School is supposed to be her one asylum from her crazy step-mom; that's why it's such leverage over her."

"What Danny is trying to say is that she has enough forced dates at home and doesn't need more guys in her life at school."

"We're not dating!" said James loudly, not quite understanding what these guys weren't getting.

"We know you like her," said Tony with a broad grin.

"I **used** to like her; we're just friends now," said James, frustration evident in his tone.

"So James, you play Quidditch?" asked Benjy suddenly.

James' head was reeling until he heard the distinct sounds of the girls coming back into the room.

"This conversation never happened," hissed Tony.

"Answer the question," ordered Danny under his breath.

"Yeah," said James nervously. "I've been on the team since my second year."

"And what position do you play?" asked Tony, all traces of scorn gone from his features.

"I'm a chaser," said James.

"Oh and… welcome back girls. Did you get your scoop?" asked Danny.

"No," said Jess curtly her lips curved in a pout.

Mary whined, "Lissy is being as tight lipped as ever! Make her talk!"

Lily looked triumphant as she looked over her shoulder and winked at James. This wink did not go unnoticed by any of James' inquisitors; James shifted nervously.

Benjy just looked over at Lily and raised an eyebrow; she shrugged in return.

"You're doing it again!" yelled Jess.

"Doing what?" asked Lily in an overly innocent sounding tone.

"That thing where you talk to Benjy without even talking," said Mary, who was highly aggravated by now; she wanted her gossip!

"So?" asked Lily, goading both girls into being even more annoyed.

"It's so annoying!" groaned Jess.

"You're getting us off topic," said Mary as she shook a finger at Lily. "Don't think I didn't notice."

Lily just laughed at how aggravated both girls had become.

"Please Lissy! Just tell them! For all our sake's!" said Tony as he tried to block out the whining of Mary and Jess.

"It's none of their business," protested Lily.

"Please Lissy," begged Danny. "Remember that time I covered for you when you colored all over Vi's term paper?"

"Danny! I was four!" said Lily laughing.

"Yeah, but you still owe me!" said Danny.

"Come on Liss, it can't be that hard. We all know you just love to infuriate Jess and Mary," said Tony. "Spare the rest of us."

"Fine," sighed Lily, who was clearly defeated. "Richard is actually quite evil. He joined an organization recently which targets muggle-born witches and wizards."

"What do you mean by 'targets'," asked Benjy suddenly. Lily had explained to him about the growing prejudice, so he was very afraid for her.

Lily just looked over to James for help. He responded to her plea by saying, "They kill muggle-borns and often muggles and anyone who stands in their way. Recently there has been an increase in the attacks on certain families; usually the families of muggle-borns."

Tony glared at James for bringing up such a concern. He and the other guys were worried about Lily enough as it was; they didn't need to add worry for her life to the usual list.

To break the tense atmosphere, Jess said cheerily, "Lissy, I went through my closet the other day and I found a skirt that I bought a while ago that I thought I would someday fit into, but it's still too long. It's too short to fit Mary, but I think it will probably fit you. I brought it along, so why don't you go try it on and you can keep it if you like it."

"Sure," said Lily. "Where is it?"

"It's up on the bed in our room," supplied Mary. "There's a top there too that might fit you. I outgrew it in my last growth spurt."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, rub it in why don't you," grumbled Jess, who obviously was not pleased that she was shorter than the other two girls.

"I love being in the middle of you two," said Lily with a smile as she skipped off to try on her new outfit.

"So Potter," said Mary with a hugely fake smile. "What are you doing with my dear friend Lissy?"

James internally groaned. Not this again! It was even worse that horror stories he had heard from older guys about meeting their girlfriends' parents; also, he didn't even get the pleasure of _dating_ Lily, and she kept leaving him alone with _them_.

"Nothing," said James, as he forced himself to remain calm. "We're just friends. Our Headmaster required that we stick together today in London, and I didn't have any plans, so I agreed to come here with Lily."

"It's not as if she'd get lost or anything," said Mary snidely. "We all basically grew up here, especially when Daisy…"

Jess cut Mary off by elbowing her in the ribs. Apparently that was a family secret Jess did not think James should be privy to; he made a mental note to ask Lily about it later.

"Is Richard really evil?" asked Jess to cover up her action.

"I don't know firsthand," admitted James. "I haven't ever really met him. I only know as much as Lily has told me, which is pretty much what she's told you."

"I think you're hiding something," said Mary suspiciously.

"I'm not hiding anything," said James.

Luckily Lily flounced back into the room at that moment. James couldn't think of a time when he had appreciated seeing her more.

"What do you think?" asked Lily as she twirled around. James had never seen her so free and happy.

"It looks marvelous!" said Mary as she and Jess clapped and catcalled. The short skirt definitely did show off Lily's long legs… especially the long red scars that ran down the back of her calves…

"What the hell happened to you?!" asked Danny in alarm as he caught sight of the scars.

Lily stared at him strangely. "What do you mean?"

Danny stood up and turned Lily around so that Tony and Benjy could see the scars as well.

"Oh hell! Lissy, what happened to your legs?" asked Tony.

James winced. He knew what those particular scars were from and he knew that this was not going to be an easy explanation.

"Uhhh… I was in Care of Magical Creatures class when…" started Lily.

Mary interrupted to say, "You don't take that class. You think it's pointless because you'll never use that information unless you turn into a wandering hobo who lives in enchanted woods or gets a job taking care of magical animals."

Lily paled as her lie was figured out. "I was in herbology…" she started weakly.

"And you got attacked by a vicious plant?" asked Jess skeptically.

"Well, there are certain species of…" began James, trying to help Lily get out of her sticky situation.

"Shut up Potter! This doesn't concern you!" yelled Jess, her eyes blazing.

"Tell us the truth Lillian Marissa Evans," said Benjy gravely. Like his younger sister, the anger was evident in his eyes as well.

Lily slumped when she stood. "I was walking around the grounds a couple of weeks ago, during a full moon and I was attacked by a werewolf. It was all my fault really. If I had just paid more attention, I would have known better than to go outside during a full moon."

"Werewolves are real?" gasped Jess as Danny said, "There are werewolves at your _school_?" and Tony said, "What kind of school is your Headmaster running?! You can't keep dangerous things like that near a school!"

Tony's comment really aggravated James. After that it didn't matter that it was Lily's family, James was going to defend his friend.

"Professor Dumbledore doesn't _keep_ him anywhere, and he's a person named Remus Lupin, not an unnamed thing!" stated James angrily.

"He's also a good friend of mine," said Lily quietly.

"And he's a hazard!" said Tony, ignoring James' and Lily's comments. "Just look at what happened to you!"

"That was a freak accident!" said Lily loudly. "He's been at school for seven years now and this is the first time anything ever happened! And besides, all I have left are scars; I'm fine."

"How did you escape with just scars?" asked Danny.

"I had the help of a few friends," said Lily.

"Did they know they were risking their lives to help you?" asked Benjy, who had a strong suspicion he knew who one of Lily's helpful 'friends' was.

"Yes," said Lily. "They both knew what they were getting into and did it anyways. I wouldn't have survived without them."

"I think we should thank them then, for your safety and well-being," said Benjy evenly as he made eye contact with James. "Don't you agree James?"

"Uhh, yeah I guess," he said uncomfortably. "I bet they were just doing what they needed to. No big deal or anything…"

"Indeed," said Benjy as his gaze lingered on James for a minute more and then his attention shifted to his sister-in-law. "Can't magic erase those scars?"

"Eventually," said Lily quietly. "But they were rather deep and it took a while for the muscle to knit itself back together. The scars should disappear within another week though."

"Are you sure you're okay?" asked Danny. "Do you want to sit down or something? Do your legs hurt?"

"I'm fine," said Lily with a smile, clearly enjoying the attention.

"Are you sure?" asked Danny, his brow still creased in worry.

"Positive," said Lily, with a slight laugh.

"I still don't like the idea of a werewolf living at Hogwarts," said Tony angrily. "I think I'm going to write a letter to your Headmaster. This cannot go on!"

"Anthony Michael Romero! You will do nothing of the sort!" said Lily loudly as she approached said the twenty-something year old man.

"Lillian Marissa Evans! Look I can do it too!" mocked Tony loudly. "And yes I am going to write a letter! This is an outrage! I think I need to address this with the school's board of directors! I want this thing expelled!"

"You're being completely unreasonable!" shouted Lily. "How dare you say such things about the man whose baby I'm carrying!"

There had never been such a silence since the beginning of the world, and its highly unlikely that there will ever be such a silence again.


	17. Getting to Know You

**Disclaimer: As always, I do not own any of the Harry Potter or Harry Potter related copyrights.**

"You're being completely unreasonable!" shouted Lily. "How dare you say such things about the man whose baby I'm carrying!"

There had never been such a silence since the beginning of the world, and its highly unlikely that there will ever be such a silence again.

Jess, who was perched on the arm of the couch, promptly fell off of it in shock. Mary, who was standing, fell backwards and luckily landed on the couch. Benjy and James both bounced up immediately with identical looks of horror on their faces. Danny took it all in stride and said, "Mazel tov!"

That broke the silence.

It also woke Tony out of his shock-induced stupor. "WHAT!"

"What else would a bunch of hormonal teenagers locked up together in a co-ed boarding school do all the time? Teachers don't give nearly enough homework to occupy us," said Lily.

All eyes went on James as if to hold him accountable for what Lily was saying. James just backed up a couple of steps, mouth still wide open, with his hands up in the universal gesture of 'I come in peace'.

"Ummm… well then Lissy, I guess we'll support you…" said Danny unsurely.

"You're coming right home," said Tony. "And staying where we can all keep an eye on you."

Then Benjy, in his quiet manner, which was far scarier than Tony's ranting, said, "Now where is this guy? I'm gonna kill him."

"Now Benjy, are you really going to kill the father of your first niece and nephew?" asked Lily with a slight laugh.

"What was that last part?" asked Jess, speaking for the first time.

"Yeah, I'm having twins," said Lily, only the tiniest hint of sarcasm evident in her voice. "Can't you tell?"

"Ha, ha, ha," laughed James awkwardly as he looked from face to face. "This is a joke right? Right?"

"No, really Remus and I went and got married during the last Hogsmeade visit," said Lily sarcastically.

"Well at least you got married," Danny pointed out. "Does he have a job?"

"No, but that's fine with me. We can just live on love and ramen noodles," said Lily, who was finding it harder and harder to keep a straight face.

"Excuse me, but I have a best friend that… needs to be taken care of," said James as he headed towards the door, his face very grim and his knuckles white from clenching his fists so hard.

Before Lily could say anything, he had exited the room and a large pop was heard.

"Ut oh," said Lily as she realized that he had disapparated away. "I swear I was just kidding! I didn't think he would believe me!"

"Lillian Marissa!" shouted Mary as she jumped off the couch. "I've got a best friend that needs to be taken care of too! How dare you scare me like that you idiot!"

Jess immediately jumped off of the floor and began helping Mary to hit Lily with couch pillows.

"Um, guys, as much as I think you have every right to hit me with couch pillows, I think I need to go intercept a murder!" said Lily as she ducked and ran out of the room. Like James, as soon as she was out of sight of the muggles, she disapparated to Hogsmeade.

As Lily arrived at the edge of Hogsmeade, she glanced around for a mop of messy black hair. When she didn't see him anywhere in the almost empty streets, Lily started to run. How was she going to explain this one to Remus?

James ran towards Hogwarts, confused thoughts running around his brain like moths around a candle. Lily and…. And Remus?! Since when? How could he have not noticed his best friend and the girl he sort of kind of fancied… wanted to be friends with, sneaking off together?!

Then James remembered what had happened on the train on the way to school back in September…

_After Lily's closing statement, everyone left except for Lily, who was waiting for Remus, who was waiting for James to see if James would explain his recent behavior._

"_You coming Remus?" asked Lily as she gathered her stuff._

_Remus looked at James directly with a cold stare and when he noticed that James was not going to be forthcoming with any apologies or explanations, said, "Yeah Lily, let's go."_

_James looked back at Remus in disbelief. Then he looked at Lily spitefully as she and Remus reached the door. _

"_And where are you two off to?" he asked nastily. "To find an empty compartment to go snog in?"_

_Lily turned around sharply, as did Remus. She opened her mouth to retort, but Remus got there first. _

"_Go take a long walk off of a short cliff Potter," spat Remus. "Come on Lily, let's get out of here."_

_James' jaw dropped as Remus put his arm gently around Lily's waist and directed her out of the compartment._

He should have known! But wait, Lily had said that they went and got _married_ in Hogsmeade… first there wasn't anywhere to get married in Hogsmeade, second, she was dating Richard at the time, third she was with Richard that whole day if she wasn't in the hospital wing, fourth, she and Remus hadn't been talking at that point, as far as he knew, fifth, Lily had told him the night before that she didn't want to get married…

Finally things fell into place. James halted right in the middle of running and started laughing. He laughed so hard he fell down. Then he started rolling around, clutching his sides. Eventually, his laughter subsided; he stood up and, while leaning on a tree, he wiped his eyes. He had been laughing so hard he had cried!

"Well done Evans," said James to the sky. "Marvelously played."

"Thank you," said Lily with a grin from across the road where she was also leaning up against a tree casually, trying not to show how out of breath she was from having run so far so fast.

"I can't believe you," said James as he started walking towards Lily, shaking his head with a smile that seemed to be threatening to split his face in half.

"What? You didn't think I had it in me to play such a prank?" asked Lily, her chin jutting out defiantly.

"Honestly?" asked James, pausing a bit for drama. "Nope. Not at all. I must say I am pleasantly surprised."

"Come on, let's get back. I want to show you some of the sights of muggle London," said Lily, beckoning James to follow her.

"So you and Remus huh?" asked James with a sidelong glance at Lily as they began walking back towards Hogsmeade together.

"Shut up you great prat," said Lily good-naturedly as she shoved James.

"Hey!" he said as he only stumbled a bit. "Did you just push me?"

"I believe I did," said Lily with a coy smile as she began to walk faster. "What's it to ya?"

"No one pushes me and gets away with it!" exclaimed James as he began to run after Lily.

She began to run as well and soon the two of them were running down the dirt road, laughing and goading each other on.

Finally, James caught Lily and threw her over his shoulder.

"Put me down!" demanded Lily through her laughter.

"I don't think so!" taunted James as he began to twirl her around.

"Please put me down?" tried Lily.

"Nope!"

"Would you put me down for an ice cream cone?"

"No!"

"How about a chocolate frog?"

"Nope! You can't bribe me! I'm completely unbribeable!"

Lily thought for a moment and then said, "Can you be _persuaded_?"

"Depends," said James. "What 'cha got to _persuade_ me with?"

"I suppose it's more of a threat really. Like, put me down so that we can back or else Tony will personally kill you, Danny will hide the evidence and Benjy will talk their way out of anything that comes up," said Lily from her perch on James' shoulder.

"I must say that that sounds pretty convincing; mostly because I'm pretty sure that all of your friends **hate** me," said James as he stopped spinning and put Lily down slowly. James fully realized that she was correct in saying that they needed to get back to Benjy's house before they got it in their minds to kill him; he wouldn't put it past them.

"They don't _hate_ you," said Lily slowly as she stumbled, dizzy from being spun around.

James laughed as he watched Lily try to regain her poise; at the same time he was, more successfully, trying not to lose his footing himself.

"You would think after years of lessons in posture and balance and all of that ballroom dancing, I wouldn't stumble so much," said Lily as her head finally stopped spinning and she was able to remain standing upright.

"I didn't know you had taken lessons in _balance_," scoffed James.

"I know it sounds ridiculous," said Lily as she resumed walking towards Hogsmeade. "My _mother_ insisted. Yet another thing I agreed to to be allowed to walk down this beautiful road."

"What was that last part?" asked James. Lily's deep and bitterly sarcastic comment had gone way over his head.

"Never mind," Lily said, letting out her prefect inaudible pitiful sigh. "Did you have any sights that you wanted to see in London?"

"I'm up for whatever," said James.

"Good," said Lily. "We all chose a place to take you. As soon as we get back we can leave and go out on a grand adventure through London."

"Sounds like fun," said James as he chuckled at Lily's dramatic voice.

The pair continued on their way down the road under an arbor of colorful Autumn foliage. At one point, wind started to blow and it shook the leaves off of many trees. James couldn't help but laugh as he watched Lily break away from his side and twirl slowly, arms out-stretched, on the road as the leaves swirled around her. She seemed so at peace with the world as she took part in the beauty that surrounded her. James was once more awed at the beauty that surrounded him.

-----

Just as Lily had said, as soon as they returned to Benjy's house, the group got ready to go. Before they went however, James took a trip to the loo and strangely, when he returned, all of Lily's friends were very friendly towards him. The situation only got odder when Lily directed a wink and a smile at him when he shot her a curious glance. James was very grateful for what he perceived to be Lily's intervention in the matter.

Lily and co. took great delight in showing James the great muggle aspects of the city. They showed him both the hot tourist spots and attractions that only locals would know about.

"So how do you all know so much about London?" asked James as they walked down a crowded side street. "I can understand Benjy knowing all this local stuff because he lives here, but the rest of you don't live here do you?"

"We all grew up in a small town only about an hour from here," answered Jess cheerfully.

"So we all came out here to visit often," continued Mary.

"My parents lived here when they were first married, but moved to our quaint little town of Hopington shortly before my sister Petunia was born," said Lily.

"I still remember the day that your parents moved onto my street," said Benjy quietly.

"Me too, we were only five or six at the time. I was over at my dear cousin Benjy's house so our mothers could gossip and Tony was there too because his mum was good friends with our mums," said Danny, elaborating on the story for James' benefit. "The three of us were sitting in the window seat in the living room eating crackers and milk for our snack and wondering who was going to move in next door. We were all hoping that it would be a boy our age. Then we saw the moving van and a car pull up to the house. Benjy got so excited he jumped up and spilled his milk all over Tony."

The group laughed, especially James, who couldn't imagine Benjy as getting very excited about anything.

"Then this little girl with bright red hair, kind of like this color," continued Tony as he pulled Lily's hair to illustrate. "Jumped out of the car and ran up to the front door before anyone else. She tried to open the door but it was locked, so she started to look around the neighborhood. Of course, one of the first things she saw was Benjy, Danny and I sitting in the window staring at her. She waved and we bounced out of the house to introduce ourselves like the gentlemen we were."

"You forgot the part when she asked you if you had wet your trousers," said Benjy.

Everyone howled with laughter.

"It was your fault in the first place!" stammered Tony.

"After she asked him that he turned red like a tomato and ran away. She never let him forget it either. When we were teenagers, anytime Tony would mention anything about liking a girl near-by, she would drag him over to her and say 'Hello, this is Tony Romero, he fancies you and he wet his trousers when he was six,'" continued Benjy in a wistful voice.

"I remember that!" exclaimed Danny. "She did it every single time and he never caught on!"

"We always treated her like one of the guys!" protested Tony. "I forgot that she was a girl most of the time."

"Are you trying to say that my sister was only a girl most of the time, or that most of the time you forgot the fact that she was of the female persuasion?" asked Lily mockingly.

"You know what I meant!" said Tony, who was easily frustrated.

"I know someone who was aware that she was a girl," said Mary in a sing-song voice.

"Who?" asked James.

"Benjy," answered Jess. "It was so hilarious. I remember right about the time _I_ was five or six, Benjy couldn't manage to say a single coherent thing while she was in the room. He also always blushed and smiled whenever her name was mentioned."

"It was so cute," said Mary. "Lissy, Jess and I used to talk about them when we were playing tea party and such. Lissy gets the credit for the explanation first."

"What was it?" asked James.

"Benjy had a huge crush on my sister," said Lily while glancing over at Benjy to make sure he was okay with talking about his dead wife.

"She also accurately predicted that they would get married," Jess pointed out. Then Jess turned to James and said, "It's funny; Lily has always seemed to know Benjy better than anyone else, even me, and I'm his sister!"

"At the time I think it was just wishful thinking," said Lily just as a familiar and hated sound reached her ears.

"Oh no," she then groaned.

"What is it?" asked Mary.

Then the rest of them heard the sound too. Quickly and quietly, the group began to break up and blend into the crowd. James just looked at Lily curiously and said, "What-"

"Walk faster," she commanded as she grabbed James' arm and began to weave through the crowd.

"What?" asked James again.

"No time," huffed Lily as she heard the sound again.

Lily was sure that they would make a clean getaway until they came to a crowd that had gathered around a huge automobile accident and they were unable to walk through it as quickly as Lily would have liked. Lily then concluded that she couldn't ignore that annoying sound and its origin any longer so when the call of, "Lillian Evans!" came once more, she plastered an excited look on her face, let go of James' arm and turned to face the music.

"Oh darling, how are you?" she said as she approached one of the many girls that she was forced to associate with at her step-mother's social events. Unfortunately Lily couldn't quite recall this particular model of bleach blonde's name, but, as usual, a simple 'darling' or 'dear' worked perfectly as a substitute.

The two young women hugged loosely and then they separated and the blonde girl replied, "I am simply wonderful! Harold proposed to me two weeks ago on our anniversary! I'm here looking up some invitations that Barb says she saw yesterday that are just divine! But what are you doing here? I thought you were at that boarding school of yours until the holidays! What was the name of it again dearie?" said the blonde girl extremely fast.

"St. Augustine's," replied Lily smoothly before James could say anything from his position just over her shoulder.

The blonde wrinkled her forehead for a moment, as if in deep thought and then said, "Of course, how silly of me to forget!" she gushed.

"And how is it? I am so glad that I am out of university! Such a tiresome bore, hearing professors drone on and on; after a semester I just couldn't take the pressure! It was killing my social life and just giving me the most awful wrinkles on my forehead and bags under my eyes. Speaking of bags, oh my dear, it appears that you have some dreadful ones!"

Lily's hand instantly drifted up to the region of skin directly under her eyes.

The blonde kept talking incessantly, "Don't worry dearie, there are ways to hide such flaws, not all of us can be perfect. Unless of course there is a reason you're losing sleep," she giggled in a most annoying way as she stared directly at James, realizing that he was in London with Lily, far away from school, and that he was quite handsome.

Lily looked over her shoulder at James and rolled her eyes; he just grinned, apparently amused by the whole ordeal.

When Lily didn't immediately make any introductions, the engaged, giggly girl got a bit antsy and said, as she twirled a strand of her bleached hair around one finger and smiled flirtatiously, "So who's this week's flavor Lillian?"

Lily feigned confusion and then pointed to James, "Oh you mean him? This is James Potter a friend of mine from school."

James shook her hand in greeting, but didn't comment. He figured that he was better off as a spectator and not a combatant at this point.

Blondie looked doubtful, but didn't press the matter, "So what are you two doing all the way here in London?"

"School trip," stated Lily emotionlessly.

"Really?" asked the Blonde.

"Yup," verified James.

Lily then looked at her wristwatch and exclaimed in a tone not dissimilar to Blonde's, "Look at the time! James, we have to get back to the hotel to catch the train back to school! We have to hurry or we won't make it!"

"Oh must you go?" asked the Blonde in a voice that couldn't be mistaken for remorse no matter how low a person's I.Q. was; she had her gossip to share among her friends, there was nothing further that she needed from naïve little Lillian Evans.

"Yes, I'm afraid we really must, but once I get back on Christmas break we really must get together," said Lily which was a nice way of saying, 'I don't like you and I will never actually call or contact you if I can help it.'

"Oh yes, I look forward to it!" squealed the Blonde who's name Lily still could not recall. She had narrowed it down to two or three, but she wasn't quite sure, so even at their parting it was just a 'darling.'

Once they had separated and James and Lily were a ways away, Lily let out an exasperated, "I hate her!"

"And her name is…?" asked James teasingly.

"No idea," said Lily. "But she doesn't know that now does she?"

"No, but how could you hate her if you don't even know her name?"

"I just hate her!"

"Now Lily, tell me how do you really feel?" asked James rhetorically as the rest of the group filtered back to them.

"Sorry about that guys," said Lily remorsefully.

"No problem Lissy," said Danny.

"We have to hurry if we're going to make it to the film," said Benjy as he glanced at his watch.

Luckily, Jess remembered a short-cut from one of her numerous visits and they made it to the theater in time. After the show, it was time for Lily and James to part with the rest of them. While Lily was hugging the girls and promising to write more often etc., James was shaking hands with Benjy, Tony and Danny, who had seemed to genuinely warm up to him.

"Well James," said Tony as he shook his hand. "You're actually not half bad."

"Thanks I think," said James.

"I agree," said Danny. "You seem to be a really good friend to Lissy, and that is most important in our books."

"Look after her for me," said Benjy solemnly as he met James eyes. "I think she's in more trouble than she realizes and trouble has a tendency to find her. She'll need you before long I think."

"Don't scare the boy Benjy," said Tony genially. "We all know Lissy can take care of herself. After all, I taught her all sorts of moves!"

Having heard the last comment, Lily tapped Tony on the shoulder. He turned around and in three moves she had him pinned to the ground.

"Yup," he croaked breathlessly. "She can definitely look after herself."

Lily helped him up and gave him a big hug, whispering something in his ear that made him laugh.

"Take care Liss," said Danny warmly as he hugged her good-bye. "Don't do anything you wouldn't do in front of Benjy, so basically don't have any fun or do anything exciting."

Benjy just rolled his eyes good-naturedly as Lily stepped forward to hug him next. As they hugged, he whispered to her, "Please be careful Lissy, I couldn't bear to lose you. Keep your head down and stay close to James; he'll take care of you."

As Lily pulled back she looked Benjy straight in the eye and shook her head slowly. "You know I can't do that."

"Please," he begged. "Please don't give anyone a reason to harm you."

"They don't need a reason. I've gotten in more trouble being born in this world and then invited into that one than I could ever possibly bring upon myself. But I promise I will watch out for myself."

"No more traveling down dark corridors at night by yourself for a midnight snack, okay?" jested Tony, though they all knew that there was more to it than that.

"Not that I've ever broken the rules by doing that," said Lily sarcastically.

"You know where the kitchens are?" asked James in surprise.

"Of course I do," said Lily.

"Well anyways," Danny interrupted. "Enjoy the rest of the term and hopefully we'll see you when you come home for the holidays. Do you think you can get away sometime to visit us? We're all meeting at my house this year."

"Now that I can apparate it shouldn't be a problem," Lily assured them. "I'll owl you with the details when it gets closer."

Finally, James and Lily left Benjy, Tony, Danny, Mary and Jess, and headed back towards their hotel for supper.

James' first question when they headed back was, "How are you able to owl them? They are all muggles right?"

"Yup, they are all muggles, but owls aren't magically activated or anything. You just have to buy a magical owl. For Christmas our first year I bought an owl for Benjy and Vi and an owl for the rest of them to share, so that it would be easiest to stay in touch with them all. After Danny and Tony moved farther away I got them their own owls. Daisy has one too," explained Lily.

"Aren't their neighbors suspicious?" wondered James.

"Well Daisy goes to a school for creative artsy people, so everyone there just accepts the oddity of having a pet owl. The part of town Jess and Mary still live in has some woods near-by that their owl lives in. And the guys are all pretty much considered to be oddballs anyways; the owls just contribute to their image."

"And earlier someone mentioned something about Daisy; she's which sister again?"

"She's my younger sister. She's thirteen."

"Yeah, well they mentioned something about her and London…?"

"When Daisy was only four, she was diagnosed with a childhood cancer, so she spent a lot of time in hospitals and seeing specialists here in London. Naturally, the rest of us spent a lot of time here too, visiting her and coming with her and stuff. And Jess, Mary, Petunia and I were still pretty young, so Vi and the guys took us out in the city to distract us from what was really going on."

"She got better though, right?" asked James, who was slightly confused. He only vaguely knew what cancer was, and he thought that most often people died from it.

"Yeah, it took her two years, but eventually she beat it. That's when she learned to draw. She spent so much time in hospitals and not being strong enough to do much that my mom taught her how to draw and how to draw well. Even after she was strong enough to run around, she liked sitting and drawing and coloring better. She was accepted into a very prestigious school for artistic prodigies when she was eleven," bragged Lily.

"That's very impressive," said James. "I would love to see some of her work."

"I have a whole sketchbook that she completed over the summer. She sent it to me a few weeks ago. When we get back to school I'll show it to you."

James smiled, happy to see such a big smile on Lily's face, "That would be awesome. Now I have another question, why do they all call you 'Lissy'?"

"Violet gave us all pet names when we were little. And naturally, they caught on among the guys and Mary and Jess."

"Where did she get 'Lissy' from though?"

Lily thought for a moment and then answered, "I never thought about it before but I suppose it's from my whole name- Lillian Marissa."

"That's cool," said James nodding. "So have you known all of them your whole life?"

Lily smiled and said, "You ask a lot of questions. Don't I get to ask you any questions?"

"Sure, but answer mine first and then you can ask me one, though my life is far less exciting than yours."

"What is your favorite childhood memory?" asked Lily with a sidelong glance at James.

"Define 'childhood'," joked James with a grin at Lily.

Lily laughed and said, "You're right; based on your maturity, a childhood memory could have been something that happened yesterday. Regardless, I'll set the time period as ten and younger."

James searched his memory banks for a while and finally came up with, "I think it was the time I was five and my dad took me to my first Quidditch game. It was the World Cup in Germany."

"Is that where your love of Quidditch came from?" asked Lily, who was thrilled that she was the one asking questions.

"Maybe," said James slowly. "But I think that it's my favorite more because it was one of those few times when my dad totally stopped working and just focused on me."

"I bet as a big time auror he has to work a lot," said Lily sympathetically.

"It always surprised me how much aurors have to work even when they aren't on active duty and just work in the office. It's a lot more than just going out and catching the bad guys or writing reports, there are a lot more hours involved than most other jobs, even when there isn't a big maniac on the loose. I hardly saw him at all last summer."

"My dad works a lot too. The only times I get to see him is when I somehow negotiate him into taking me with him when he goes into London to give lectures about that stupid case of his," said Lily bitterly.

"What case?" asked James. "What does your dad do?"

"He's an attorney, and a few years ago, right after the doctors announced that Daisy was completely healed, he hit this really big case. The people involved had already gone through several lawyers and everything looked bleak, but then some friend my dad had from law school recommended him- just a small town lawyer that made just enough for his family to get by with his wife's combined salary- and so he took on the case. Sometimes there were whole weekends that I didn't actually see him. He spent most of his time in London working, or at his office, working, or with the people he was working for.

"About half-way through the case, the accident happened. Those few days I was in the hospital and for the funerals were the most I had seen him in months. Then he went back to work and left Petunia to balance her life and taking care of me and Daisy. She became really, really bitter that summer. Not that she wasn't always bitter towards me… because I got into Hogwarts and she didn't."

"It's something to be jealous of," said James slowly, once again overwhelmed by the little insight he had gotten into Lily's life.

Startled, Lily steered the conversation back towards James and before the pair knew it, they were back at the hotel.

"I'll see you at dinner?" asked Lily as she stood at the door to her, now-empty, hotel suite.

"Definitely," said James with a grin. "Want me to walk down with you?"

"I think I can handle it by myself," Lily grinned. "But I'll save you a seat."

"See you there," said James with a wave, feeling a bit disheartened that Lily had refused his platonic offer.

After Lily closed the door behind her, she leaned her back up against it and slid down to the floor. She couldn't believe the butterflies that had sprung up in her stomach when James had offered something as simple as walking her down to dinner. It scared her, a lot.


	18. Friends, or more than that?

**Disclaimer: As always, I do not own any of the Harry Potter or Harry Potter related copyrights.**

Lily and James met up at dinner and had a very nice time. They stuck together and systematically talked to all of the exchange students. Sometimes Lily dominated the conversation, usually when the conversation was centered around school, culture or politics. Luckily, James was there to take over when the students were interested in sports, girls or pranks, and Lily was able to just stand next to James and laugh, smile and nod her head. They made a good team.

Without mishap, the pair, along with the Deputy Headmistress, Professor McGonagall, led the students to the train the following morning. Once the students were settled in, James and Lily made their way to the Heads Compartment. They happily chatted for the entire ride; mostly Lily kept the conversation topics on James and his life, but sometimes he was able to sneak a question about Lily in.

After the ride, the two Heads escorted the students, with Hagrid's help, to the boats where they would ride across the lake like all new-comers to Hogwarts. James and Lily rode to the school in one of the traditional carriages. Lily tried not to look at the Thestrals as she entered the carriage, but James caught her sneak a long glance at them as she climbed in. To him it looked as if she was trying to reclaim some part of her childhood, or perhaps just the innocence of her eleven year old self, her spirit not yet marred by either the scars of lost loved ones, or the deep gashes of prejudice.

Soon the seventh year exchange students were sorted; this was enjoyed greatly by the Hogwarts first years, who liked to see someone else look nervous while waiting to know their fate. Of the thirty students involved in the exchange, four were sorted into Hufflepuff, seven became Slytherins, nine went into Gryffindor and ten became Ravenclaws. They were welcomed into their new houses and at the conclusion of the feast, led through Hogwarts' corridors to their new dormitories.

James and Remus got four new housemates to replace their lost Marauders and Lily, Alice and Marlene got the other five, making a total of eleven girls in one dormitory. Luckily, the room was magically equipped to expand enough to encompass the additional beds and the space necessary to house teenage girls.

-----

"Good morning class," greeted Professor Gills genially as his seventh year N.E.W.T. class wandered in. It had been just under a month since Lily and James had attended the exchange ball in London and since Richard had taken up his position as the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. His charming, seemingly carefree attitude and sharp wit made him one of the students' favorite teachers. His vast knowledge on his subject also led him to be very respected by all except for Lily Evans.

With each and every passing day, Lily was more and more convinced that Richard was a Death Eater. On the other hand, James became less and less sure and was positive that Lily was imagining things. How could someone so nice and friendly, and also a Gryffindor supporter in Quidditch, be a Death Eater? It just didn't fit the stereotype.

"Today we will be covering a very dark branch of magic. With events how they are, Professor Dumbledore and I agree that you should be made more aware of the Unforgivable curses. I know that you have covered them in passing, but it is my opinion that the more you know about something the more you can fear and respect it.

"Take fire for example," said Richard as he waved his wand and a small fireball ignited at the top. "Small children fear it because they do not wish to be burned. However, as you age, you realize that fire is useful if you know how to properly wield it," he said as the made the fireball jump from his wand to his palm. Then he juggled it as if it were an ordinary ball. The class clapped and whistled in admiration; Lily just sat farther back in her seat, crossed her arms and deepened her scowl.

Catching sight of the unimpressed face of his ex-girlfriend, Richard faltered for a moment and then extinguished the fireball by closing his fist around it. A few of the girls gasped, but then let out a sigh of relief when he opened his palm to show that he had not been burned.

"Show-off," murmured Lily to Alice, who was sitting next to her and pretending not to be impressed.

Marlene and Alice, like James, believed that Lily had been mistaken about Richard, and was just upset by their break-up. Also, they all knew that she was prone to periods in which her actions were ruled by passion. Since the beginning of the school year alone she had been depressed, angry, flirty, cruel, mediating, insulted, forgiving, friendly and happy. The last emotion Marly and Alice attributed to James' increased presence in Lily's life as a friend.

"Now who can name all three Unforgivable curses?" asked Professor Gills with a smile that had become his trademark among his female pupils. "Allison, I _know_ that you know them."

Allison blushed and said, "Umm… like the hurting one… and umm… that other one… with the whole mind control thingy and then there's the last one."

Even though Allison acted like a complete idiot, Richard smiled at her and said, "Very nicely put Miss McCormack. Now who can elaborate on Allison's answer?"

Lily saw right through Richard's lovely smile; in fact, she recognized it. It was the same smile he had put on all those times he and Lily had been attending parties together and he was mocking some distinguished guest.

For the next few minutes the students copied down notes about the finer aspects of the cruelest curses known to wizardkind. But what would class be without a demonstration?

"Now," began Richard as he clapped his hands together. "We are in the middle of a war. It is very probable that not long after you graduate, you will be exposed to two or maybe all three of the Unforgivables. So, you will need to be able to identify these curses."

Professor Gills picked up one of the rats that was in a cage on his desk and pointed his wand at it. James and Remus tensed; if they hadn't known that Peter was in another country, they would have been very nervous for their animagus friend.

"This is the Killing Curse," he began. "Avada Kedavra."

To the class, it looked as if causing the green light to emit from his wand pained Richard, as if he felt badly for stealing the life of the rat. Lily knew better; well at least she thought she did. She had always known that Richard was a bit… off, a bit tightly wound, and now she was positive that he was a Death Eater. Thus, from her point of view, his grimace looked more self-satisfied than remorseful.

"Observe the open eyes and surprised expression," said the Professor as he walked around the room pointing out the tell-tale signs of the killing curse.

After making his rounds, Gills disposed of the rat. He then picked up another one. Lily couldn't help but feel a bit sick when he reached his arm into the cage and the rats scurried away from it; it was as if they knew that they were about to get hurt.

Professor Gills, without any warning or explanation then cried, "Crucio!"

The rat squealed and squirmed in Richard's fist, but its shrieks went unheeded. Richard tortured the poor rat for only fifteen seconds, but the class' occupants felt as if it was hours. Who knew such awful sounds could come from an animal so small?

"I am sure that this curse needs no further discussion," said Gills nonchalantly, as if he hadn't just tortured a small animal for almost no reason. "Now for the final curse, I shall need a class volunteer."

As expected, no one raised their hand. Not even a charming Gills smile could coax anyone in the class to be the test subject, not after that last curse.

"So I suppose I shall have to choose then," said Gills with a sneaky smile. "Miss Evans, you have not volunteered any information today in class, so I think that you should be helpful by being the volunteer. Please stand up and come to the front of the room."

Lily kept her face impassive as she stood up from her desk and walked to the front of the room.

"Do not worry Miss Evans, this will not hurt a bit," said Gills with a huge grin. "Imperio! Now, Miss Evans is under my complete control. Whatever I tell her to do, she will do. Miss Evans, jump."

Obediently, Lily hopped in place once. A couple people in the class sniggered at seeing the ice queen of a Head Girl being reduced to jumping at a command like a dog. James, Remus and Alice, however, were not impressed. James was ready to step in if things got ugly; he was starting to see where Lily got her accusations from. Snape was also ready to intervene if necessary, but he was more curious. He knew that Lily could throw off the curse if she wanted to; he had seen her do it numerous times.

"Miss Evans, recite the alphabet."

Lily did as she was told; more students became relaxed and laughed more openly.

"Miss Evans, tell the class your deepest, darkest secret."

James, Severus and Remus were all out of their chairs with wands drawn by the time the last syllable escaped their teacher's mouth. This was not necessary however because Lily turned to him before they could do anything and said, "I don't think so."

The class gasped. Lily didn't appear as if she had had an internal struggle; the book had said that on the rare occasion a wizard was able to throw off the curse, it took a lot of will and a visible struggle.

Richard was surprised along with the rest of the class; he narrowed his eyes and said, "What?"

"I said," said Lily slowly as if she was talking to a small child. "No."

"I suppose I did not cast the spell correctly," said Gills uneasily.

The unnerved class laughed nervously.

"I will try again. Imperio! Now do a handstand."

Lily paused only for a moment before saying, "I don't really want to."

Then Lily walked back to her seat and sat down without another word. The class, teacher included, just stared at her in shock. This was unheard of; it was like the muggle Queen of England pulling a wand out and transfiguring her crown into a peacock.

Then Richard broke the silence by laughing genially. "I guess I wasn't as good at these as I thought; naturally I haven't had a lot of practice." During his last sentence Richard stared directly at Lily. She just maintained his gaze with a cool stare until he looked away.

"Perhaps I could try just once more?" asked Richard, appealing to the class.

Most hands went up; Richard picked another volunteer.

"Imperio. Jump up and down."

The girl did this.

Richard commented, "Now why is it that that one always works? Tell the class on whom you have a secret crush."

The girl didn't even hesitate before she said, "You."

The class burst out laughing and the girl didn't even flinch.

Richard grinned and ordered, "Kiss one of the rats from the cage."

Students fell out of their chairs laughing as their classmate reached down into the cage, picked up a rat and kissed it.

"That's enough," said Richard after he had had a good hard laugh himself.

Then he released the curse and the student looked blankly out at the class and asked, "Why do I have this weird taste in my mouth?"

The class exploded into even more laughter as the poor test subject looked as if she was about to cry as she ran out of the room, totally humiliated.

Then the bell rang. The teenagers stumbled to their feet and gathered their supplies, grateful that their professor hadn't yet assigned an essay and hoping to escape before he had the chance.

"Miss Evans, I'd like to see you for a moment," called Richard just as Lily had reached the doorway.

She sighed and turned around to go back.

James stopped her midway and said, "I'll wait for you in the hall."

Lily nodded and headed back towards Professor Gills.

"Yes Professor?" asked Lily with an overdose of sweetness.

"Cut the crap Lillian! What the hell was that?" asked Richard angrily.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Lily said in her voice which was still laden with sweetness.

"Where did you learn how to throw off an Imperius curse like that? It is unheard of! No one has ever been able to throw off a curse as strong as mine before! It would take hours upon hours of practice!"

"It wasn't that hard _Richard_; I have learned not to pay any head to orders, so blocking out your commands in my head was nothing new to me," said Lily flippantly.

Richard yelled in frustration. "Why do you insist on being so impossible?! You are so powerful Lillian! He would let you live! Bloodline comes second to true power; and you have true power," he said his voice low and husky towards the end when he grabbed Lily shoulders to make her look him in the eye. "I just want to protect you."

"No! I'm not going to torture and kill people because of an absurd prejudice! It's wrong and you should know that!"

"There's no such thing as right and wrong! Don't be naïve!"

Suddenly, Richard let go of Lily as if he had been burned, and in fact he had. He yelled in pain as he looked down at his red and blistering palms.

"Leave me alone," spat Lily as she turned on her heel and left the room.

"I know what you are!" shouted Richard just as Lily closed the door behind her.

"He knows what you are?" joked James, trying to make the situation better.

"I certainly hope not," said Lily lightly, but her face showed the emotional strain she was suffering.

"Look Lily," said James stopping her in the hallway. "I'm starting to think you were right about Gills, um Richard, about him being uhh evil. But, maybe he's not a Death Eater; it's possible to be involved in the dark arts and not be a Death Eater."

Lily narrowed her eyes and stormed past James without a word. Of course, he followed her and placing a hand on her shoulder, tried to stop her again.

However, she just pushed his hand away and hissed, "Don't touch me."

"Come on Lily!" James called after her. "You don't have any proof! You can't just make such harsh accusations!"

Lily whirled around, the anger visible on her face. "I know that's what you think; Merlin knows you've told me enough, but you're wrong! Believe what you want to believe, but don't try to change my mind."

James walked slowly over to his friend.

"Lily," began James.

"No, stop. I know that I'm not the most emotionally stable person out there, but James, I am not crazy and I am not imagining things. I spent a lot of time with Richard over the last few weeks of the summer, and the clues didn't add up until now, but I know that he is working for Voldemort."

"Okay Lily," said James, defeated.

"Don't patronize me!" shouted Lily.

"Alright, alright," said James soothingly as he back up a few steps, hands up defensively.

"Him being here just puts me on edge, I'm sorry for acting so oddly lately. It will go back to normal once he leaves on Saturday. Everything will be fine," Lily muttered more to herself than James.

Then she looked up at his confused and worried face and implored him, "Please stop looking at me like I'm crazy."

"I'm just… worried about you I guess. We all are," he said cautiously. James had been on the receiving end of far too many of Lily's mood swings in the past month not to have learned to choose his words carefully.

"There's nothing to be worried about," said Lily. "Just the normal teen drama."

James snorted. He couldn't help it. Lily, and normal in the same sentence? Ha!

Lily didn't find it so amusing. She stalked off and James knew better than to follow her this time.

-----

"Well, my dear students," said Professor Gills, pausing for effect. "This is my last day here as your teacher."

Even though he had only been there for a month, Richard had really won over the student body. There was a lot of wailing and sniffling on the part of the girls, well except for Lily of course, and her loyal friend Alice. Some of the guys even looked disappointed that they were losing such a cool teacher to have around.

"Now I would just like to thank you all for being such bright…"

Lily didn't hear the rest of Richard's speech, because all of a sudden it felt like someone had split open her head with an anvil. She let out her breath sharply and then clenched her jaw, and only barely resisted the urge to scream out loud. She tried to lift her hands up to her head to do anything to alleviate the pain, but she wasn't quite sure that her hands obeyed because she couldn't feel them touch her head. All she could feel was the excruciating pain which wouldn't end.

Eventually she felt herself falling off of her chair and when she hit the ground the pain increased ten-fold, eliciting a blood-curdling scream from her. Somewhere in her clouded mind, Lily was aware that she had hit her head on the stone floor.

What she was not aware of however, was the fact that she was not the only one who was suffering this sudden pain. Her classmates were glancing from their teacher to the Head Girl to Snape, all three of whom were twitching, holding their heads and screaming on the floor.

Finally waking up from her stupor, Alice bounded out of her seat, knocking it backwards in her haste, and ran to her friend's side.

"Lily! Lily!" screamed Alice through her tears. "What's wrong?! Please stop screaming! Please!"

Alice just knelt next to her friend, not touching her for fearing of making it, whatever **it** was, worse. Within a second, James was right next to Alice with Remus right behind him.

"Someone go get McGonagall or any other teacher! Someone else get Madame Pomfrey! And someone find Dumbledore!" yelled James.

Immediately several Hogwarts students ran out of the room to do this, palms over their ears to try and block out the screams.

"Lily?!" asked James, his voice cracking. He reached out a hand slowly and touched Lily's arm gently, but she didn't respond to his touch at all. She still rocked and writhed on the floor, along with Richard and Severus.

Because touching her didn't seem to hurt her more, James pulled Lily into his lap and rocked her back and forth as if she was a child troubled by a nightmare. Alice sat next to him and stroked Lily's arm soothingly. Remus had his arm around Alice, trying to comfort her.

This was how Madame Pomfrey, Professors McGonagall and Flitwick found the four Gryffindors. Gently, but firmly, McGonagall lifted Lily out of James' arms and levitated her onto a stretcher; Flitwick and Pomfrey did the same for the other two. All three were still screaming, though the screaming had become less loud as their voices became worn out.

Still in shock, the class trailed wordlessly after their teachers to the Hospital Wing and then took residence outside of Wing to wait for results. After about ten minutes, everyone except James, Alice and Remus had left and Marlene had joined them.

The group sat huddled together, thankfully not able to hear the screams of their friend anymore due to a Silencing charm placed around the ward, when suddenly a familiar voice was heard coming from James' pocket.

"Prongs! Prongs?! Are you there?!" asked Sirius.

James slowly took out the mirror he had used to communicate with Sirius over the past month and brought it up to his face. "Yeah, I'm here Padfoot."

Sirius' attitude changed at once when he saw his friend's red rimmed eyes and heard his gloomy voice. "Mate, what happened? What's going on there?"

"I dunno, Lily… Lily's hurt. I don't know how and I don't know why, but she's hurt bad Sirius… really bad," said James.

"Where are you guys?"

"Outside of the Hospital Wing," answered James tiredly. "No one will tell us anything."

Then suddenly, Dumbledore slowly limped by the teenagers and into the Hospital Wing, looking very much like an old man. James and the others tried to speak, but Dumbledore just waved them off and went into the Hospital Wing.

"I got to go mate," said Sirius suddenly. "I have to finish packing. Look, I'll see you tomorrow, right? You and…"

"Yeah, Lily and I will be there tomorrow," said James determinedly. "She'll be fine by then I'm sure."

"Give her my best wishes," said Sirius.

"Will do," promised James.

After a few more tense minutes, McGonagall, came out and addressed the Gryffindors, "You can go in and see her now."

All four jumped up from the floor and rushed by their Head of House to see their friend.

Lily was sitting in one of the Hospital beds, propped up by pillows and smiling. The only sign that she had suffered anything at all was a thin strip of bandages around her head that was covering up the minor head wound she had received when she hit the ground.

Alice and Marlene sat down on either side of Lily on her bed and the boys stood right behind them.

"How are you feeling?" asked Alice worriedly. "Does your head hurt? Are you cold? Do you need another blanket? Do you want a potion for pain? Have you taken anything yet?"

Lily opened her mouth to answer, but nothing came out. Interpreting her silence correctly, Remus put a hand on Alice's shoulder and said, "Alice, I think Lily lost her voice."

Lily started to nod, but then grimaced and stopped. "I can talk a little," she croaked quietly.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" said Alice.

Lily just smiled at her, meaning that there was nothing to be sorry for.

"So, are you feeling better Lily?" asked Marlene.

"Yes," whispered Lily.

Then Madame Pomfrey bustled into the curtained off area that contained Lily and her friends and said, "Now, now, you all must leave. Miss Evans must get her rest since Professor Dumbledore **insists** that she accompanies Mr. Potter and the exchange students back to London tomorrow."

"I'll be back," mouthed James as he was hustled away.

Lily understood this and smiled. James smiled back.

-----

Later that night, with help from his handy dandy invisibility cloak, James sneaked back into the Hospital Wing to visit his friend.

Lily was awake when James arrived. As he pulled off the cloak, she put aside her novel.

"Hello," she said quietly.

"Your voice sounds better," commented James as he sat down in the nearest chair.

"Yeah," she whispered. "Why are you here?"

"I'm not really sure," admitted James as he leaned towards her and put his forearms on his thighs.

The two friends stayed in silence for a minute, just looking at each other, until James said, "Why did you come over when I was having my nightmares? Why did you forgive me so easily after I called you… the "m" word? Why did you agree to a truce between us? Why don't you hex me all the time anymore? Why do you sometimes tell me stuff about yourself?"

"You forgot the last one," murmured Lily. "Why won't I go out with you?"

James was only thrown off course for a moment. "That one certainly does put a damper on my theory, but it doesn't destroy it because I have thought up a counter to it."

Lily eyed his smirk curiously. She wasn't quite sure how she wanted this conversation to end.

When it became obvious that Lily wouldn't indulge him by asking what his oh so clever response to her refusal to date to him, James just went ahead and told her anyways. "I think you're just scared."

Lily glared at him and opened her mouth to argue, but James hushed her saying, "No really, hear me out. From some of our… arguments, I was able to realize that you didn't really hate me, and you told me that you wouldn't date me because you thought you were bad for me…"

Due to the prodding of her conscience, which still told her it was in James' best interest to not date her, Lily said slowly, "James, it really is in your best interest not to get emotionally involved with me."

James laughed hollowly. "It is far too late for that now Lily. I'm not going to just 'get over this' as you have told me to do so often. I've tried and take my word for it, it didn't work. What are you afraid of? I fancy you, a lot more than I think you realize, and I'm pretty sure that you like me at least a little bit."

Lily put her hand up to the bandage on her hand. "Do you see this? It's just another symbol of the fact that I'm not normal. I'm never going to be that perfect girlfriend you think I would be. My life is so totally convoluted and I think that you would potentially be in danger if…"

"If what?" James interrupted sharply. "What exactly do you think is going to happen if we go to Hogsmeade together or if we hold hands in the hallways?"

"I just don't want to get you involved in all the crap that is my life. But since you don't seem convinced that my life is dangerous, I'll give you a summary. Wizarding world, pure-blooded maniac is on the loose killing muggle-borns like me; muggle world, my step-mother has enough control over my father to have him convinced that marrying me off is what would make me happiest and that he should totally ignore the fact that that's not what I want because what the hell do I know? I'm just a naïve little girl who should do what I'm told. And the only escape I've seen so far out of this, as I have told you, turned out to be evil. So where exactly do you envision yourself fitting in?"

"Sitting next to you and putting food on your plate and convincing you to eat it on those days that you would rather starve yourself and hexing all those creeps you hate when they come too close, and pulling you in from crazy wind storms," said James earnestly. "Please give us a try."

Lily pondered the fact for a moment; then she made a decision that would ultimately change her life as she knew it.

**A/N. If I haven't mentioned this before, this story is a bit AU, so her answer may or may not be what you think it will be. Thanks for reading and please review!**


	19. If Only

**Disclaimer: I do not own any Harry Potter or Harry Potter related copyrights.**

"Sitting next to you and putting food on your plate and convincing you to eat it on those days that you would rather starve yourself and hexing all those creeps you hate when they come too close, and pulling you in from crazy wind storms," said James earnestly. "Please give us a try."

Lily pondered the fact for a moment; then she made a decision that would ultimately change her life as she knew it.

"You know what James, I would love to go out with you," said Lily as a huge smile lit up her entire face.

"Really?" asked James. "Are you sure? Cause I have like 5 million more reasons to try and convince you to date me and Remus, in place of Sirius, is pouring out shot glasses of firewhiskey back at the dorm for when you say no again."

"I really am sure James," said Lily softly as she reached over and took his hand and squeezed it. "You're right; I was scared, but I don't want to be afraid anymore. After all, it's better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all, right?"

"Yeah," said James as he savored the feeling of her hand in his. "But I don't intend on losing you anytime soon."

"Good," said Lily. Then she yawned.

"Way to break the mood," James teased.

"I'm sorry, but it's just after one in the morning and I have to get up early so that Madame Pomfrey can give me an exam to make sure that I really can go to London tomorrow."

"Do you think you can go? I mean, I guess Dumbledore wants you to go, but you don't really have to. It's more of a gesture than anything else," said James.

"Believe me, I'm perfectly fine. The cut on my head wasn't bad at all and it's totally healed now."

James paused a moment before asking her about what had been bothering him, as well as Lily's other friends since the incident, "What exactly happened? And why were only you, Snape and Professor Gills affected by it?"

Lily's smile faded a bit when she answered, "Someday I'll tell you James, I promise, just not right now, okay?"

James was going to protest, but Lily, guessing this, continued, "Please don't push this. Someday I will tell you."

"Okay," agreed James. "I'm going to go now. I'll see you later."

As James was about to stand up, Lily leaned over and pecked him on the cheek. "Night James."

Grinning like the mad fool he was, James stood up and said, "Night Lily."

-----

After being checked over by Madame Pomfrey, Lily left the Hospital Wing and set out for the front hall, where all of the exchange students were supposed to be assembled. As soon as she walked in, she saw Remus, but James was no where in sight.

"Morning Remus," said Lily cheerfully.

"Morning Lily, how are you feeling?" asked Remus.

"Wonderful," Lily answered honestly. "Do you know where James is? We're supposed to round up all of the students and get them into the carriages and onto the train."

"Right," said Remus sarcastically. "I'm sure that's the only reason you want to find your _boyfriend_."

Lily immediately blushed a little and said, "So he told you then?"

"He hasn't shut up about it since he got back **late** last night," said Remus with a smile.

Lily grinned and then changed the subject. "Who are you here saying good-bye to?"

"The guys from the dorm and a few other people I hung out with a bit over the last month," said Remus, trying to act casually.

"A few other people being Vicky, the girl you were always studying with at the library?" teased Lily.

Now it was Remus' turn to blush. "Her and some other people."

Just then said girl came bounding up to Remus and hugged him. Lily watched in amusement.

After the pair broke apart, Remus turned to introduce Lily to his friend, but she had already disappeared to go find James.

"I'm going to miss you so much Remus!" exclaimed the girl.

"I'm going to miss you too Vicky," responded Remus.

"You'll write, right?" demanded Vicky.

"Of course," said Remus smiling.

"I thought this whole exchange thing was going to be awful, but I really liked meeting you."

"I'm glad I could be of service."

"I wish I could stay and explore more of this castle. It's so much cooler than my school. You can't really have any awesome adventures back at Merlin's Academy," she said wistfully. "But all of those secret passages you showed me! So wicked!"

Remus agreed, "It is pretty exciting around here."

Then Lily's magically loud voice interrupted them. "Two minutes everyone! Say your last good-byes!"

"I have to go say good-bye to a couple of other guys," said Vicky sadly. "But I had a crazy idea; I'm going to apply to the Auror Academy here in Britain! I really loved what I saw of London, and I've met so many amazing people here… I really think that I want to spend more time here."

Remus' grin was so big you would have thought he was James. "I think that is an excellent idea," he said honestly. "It's a really good program and I'm sure you could get in. Also, we need some more aurors at a time like this."

"Well I've got to go!" exclaimed the exuberant teenager as she hugged Remus again. "I'll see you in a few months hopefully! Bye!"

Then she dashed off and Remus lost sight of her in the crowd. As people swirled all around him, Remus reflected back on the past month.

A few days after the exchange students had been sorted and had settled into the daily life of Hogwarts, Remus had been researching for a Defense Against the Dark Arts essay in the library when Vicky, her hair then bright blue with bronze tips, asked him, "Can I sit here?"

Remus looked up, and said, "Sure."

She sat down and said, "What are you studying?"

"I looking up stuff for that essay Gills assigned yesterday," he said, remembering that the girl was in his class.

The girl sighed dramatically. "I go to the school he really teaches at. He's pretty cool but he always assigns so much work! And then he grades really hard too, but he's brilliant."

And so they were off. The girl, whom he soon found out was named Vicky, and Remus traded stories for hours. First they started with school, but soon they moved onto friends, families and memories. Neither of them got any work done that night or the many nights they spent together afterward. Though eventually they did have to catch up on their schoolwork, so they started actually working and studying during their time in the library. It should be noted however, that completing any assignment took twice as long when they were together as when they were apart. Perhaps it was because they kept sneaking glances at one another or because they took almost constant breaks to talk, but neither of those hypotheses have been clinically proven.

Remus had never felt so instantly attracted to anyone before and truth be told, he was frightened. He was scared that the vibrant, totally awesome girl he fancied so much would reject him for being a werewolf and never talk to him again. And he didn't think he could bear that burden. She was everything he had never imagined for himself; she was so nonconformist, she didn't care what other people thought, she was extremely intelligent and talented, outspoken, friendly and so kind. As far as he was concerned, he was a changed man and he liked it.

As Lily started herding people towards the doors, James walked over to Remus with the huge smile that hadn't left his face since Lily had kissed him on the cheek.

"So how's Vicky?" he teased.

In a dreamy voice, a voice much like the one he had often teased James for using when talking about Lily, Remus replied, "She wants to go to the Auror Academy in London after she graduates. I'm going to see her again!"

"I'd say she likes you mate," said James happily.

"Potter!" shouted Lily from the doorway. "Get a move on!"

"And I'd say that that one right there likes you, though I don't know why," returned Remus.

James just grinned at him and started walking across the hall towards his girlfriend.

"See you in a few hours mate when the Marauders reunite!" called James with a wave.

"I'll have the stuff ready and waiting!" Remus answered.

When James reached Lily and they started walking down towards the carriages together, he asked, "Aren't you going to tell me off for being Head Boy and pulling pranks?"

"I trust your judgment," answered Lily simply.

"What does that mean?"

Lily looked up to James' face. "I trust that you won't do anything that would put anyone in danger. I think that whatever you do, like putting everyone's underwear on the outside of their clothes, is going to be harmless and a nice welcome back for the students. I'm sure that they missed your unique antics this past month. I know I did."

Then Lily grinned coyly at James as she hoisted herself into the first carriage.

"Oh!" said James victoriously as he followed her. "You admitted that you like my pranks!"

"I've never hated your pranks as long as they only caused embarrassment and not pain. And for the record, I prefer the pranks where everyone is affected equally, not just the Slytherin house or certain Slytherins," she finished with a pointed look.

"When was the last time I specifically targeted Snape and only Snape for a prank?" challenged James.

Lily contemplated the matter for a moment and then said, "I don't remember."

"Exactly! See I'm not the awful person you thought I was!" he said as he looked down at the red head sitting next to him.

Lily looked back up at him and honestly admitted, "I haven't thought you were a bad person in a really long time."

Then she slipped her hand into his, squeezed it gently and changed the subject. James kept looking down at Lily and contributed to the conversation, but all he could really think about was how long he had waited to feel her hand in his like this.

All too soon, the carriages had arrived at the train station, Lily had jumped out to organize the troops exchange students like the responsible and all-powerful Head Girl she was. James followed right after her to help and make sure that everyone boarded the train. After everyone was on the train, James walked over to Lily and said, "What teacher is coming with us?"

"Gills," Lily said as evenly as she could manage. "And he's late."

Just then Richard sauntered onto the platform. "Oh darn, it looks like all the students were already organized, and I had _so hurried_ to get here so that I could help."

James was a bit taken aback. So this was the evil, caustic Richard Lily had been talking about. There was no trace of the easy-going, friendly teacher that James had thought he knew.

"Go to hell Richard," said Lily after checking to see that no one was still on the platform.

"I'll save you a seat," he said with an evil grin as he sauntered by the two of them and onto the train.

"It's amazing how fast I could go from dating him to despising him," Lily muttered to James as she made her way onto the train.

"You went exactly the other way with me," James mumbled.

"What?" asked Lily curiously.

"Nothing," James covered. "I was just surprised; Gills seems more evil than I thought."

Lily nodded, satisfied, and continued onto the train.

For the whole trip, James and Lily visited the students on the train and asked them how they liked Hogwarts, what their favorite memory was, and if they would consider applying to any universities in Great Britain. The only one of these conversations that was really interesting was when James and Lily came across Vicky sitting alone in a compartment.

"Hullo Vicky," said James with a wide grin.

"Potter," the girl with neon green hair plaited in two pigtails acknowledged. Then she turned her attention to Lily and said, "You're Lily, right?"

Lily nodded and said, "You're Remus' _study buddy_, right?"

"You're the girl Potter has naughty dreams about, right?"

It was a good thing Lily had learned how to think under adverse conditions, otherwise she never would have been able to come up with anything to say after that comment. "You're the girl that shaved off Sandra's eyebrows when she insulted your favorite Marauder, right?"

"You're the girl that Sandra is about to kick out of her prestigious study group full of her air-headed minions because you're friends with her most hated Marauder, yes that's you Potter, right?" continued the bold girl, whose hair was neon green this morning.

"You're the girl that broke Sirius' record of the most spitballs in McGonagall's class, right?" said Lily, who wasn't really surprised that Sandra was plotting kicking her out of the Outstanding Witches League study group.

"You're the girl that-" began Vicky.

"Okay! You two can do this until we reach London, but how about we stop now? Lily this is Vicky, Vicky this is Lily and I have no idea why you haven't met each other before because you were both in the same classes for the super-smart people," James interrupted.

"Can it Potter! No one asked for your opinion!" shouted Vicky.

"Leave him alone!" the fiery red head shouted back.

James couldn't help but think of a time not so long ago when she had said that same thing _to_ him, but now it was _in defense_ of him. He decided it was so much better hearing it this way.

"You gonna make me?" challenged Vicky as she got up out of her seat and right up in Lily's face.

"You don't want to test me; you have no idea what I'm capable of," hissed Lily as she drew her wand.

Vicky drew her wand as well and said, "That's what all the cowards say hoping that somehow they'll intimidate their opponent so they won't have to fight and _lose_."

Lily grinned evilly and said, "I will not lose."

"We'll see about that," responded the equally confident American.

"Now at this point," James cut in before the first spell could be cast. "Sirius would say something ridiculous and possibly life-threatening such as 'cat fight!', but since I am not stupid like my best mate, I would never dream of yelling such a thing, or egg the two of you on. So, I think…"

"Potter!" yelled Vicky, her attention temporarily diverted. "When will you learn that no one cares what comes out of your mouth?!"

"Why are you such a jerk?" asked Lily. "I always thought that Remus had good taste, but I guess not."

"You are so going down!" yelled Vicky as she lunged for Lily.

Luckily, James intervened and caught the spirited teenager in mid-pounce.

"Lily, I think we had better just go now," said James as he held back the viciously struggling girl. "Ow! She bit me!"

"Make her leave!" was Lily's stubborn response.

"It's my compartment!" protested Vicky.

"And I don't really wonder why you're all alone in it!"

"Lily!" yelled James before Vicky could retort and they would be in another cycle of insults. "Just leave! Please."

"Fine!" huffed Lily and she walked out.

After the door slid shut behind Lily, James released Vicky and said, "What was up with that?"

"I think both you and your girlfriend are arrogant, pompous, as you Brits say it, gits!" said Vicky.

Tired of all the conflict, James backed down and said, "Okay, fine. I'm just going to go now. Bye."

Then he left and met up with Lily in the hallway, made her laugh a bit and smoothed things over. They then continued on their rounds none the worse for wear.

Vicky, on the other hand, was left to brood over the fact that she never seemed to be able to make female friends. It always seemed as if she was too sarcastic, too blunt, and too loud to "bond" with any other girls, although those same traits seemed to help her to make male friends pretty easily.

However, she had observed Lily over the last month and thought that in all likelihood, Lily was the best candidate for a female friend. Like herself, Lily was very bright, witty and sarcastic. But at first, because she was sorted into Ravenclaw, Vicky had hung around with Sandra and the OWLs gang, who had filled her head with awful things about Lily, so she didn't make any attempts at friendship. Soon, however, Vicky got really tired of the superficial Ravenclaw girls and how they always made fun of Remus (though she enjoyed it when they made fun of James).

So she stopped hanging out with them, but more than two weeks had passed since her arrival and it seemed as if everyone had already settled into their little cliques and niches and there didn't seem to be any easy way to approach Lily, who was usually surrounded by Alice and Marlene at the very least. Often she was trailed by students who needed something, wanted to complain about something, or were asking something. Vicky just never tried to get to know Lily during the month and then when she had finally gotten the opportunity, she had let her temper get the better of her.

Well least she had Remus. That was a comforting thought that Vicky clung to as the English countryside sped by outside her window.

-----

Once the train arrived in London much later that day, the students grabbed all of their luggage and assembled on Platform 9 ¾. For a few minutes they all just milled about making last minute exchanges of contact information and such things, but then they began to wonder what was going on and why they weren't going anywhere.

"Have you seen Professor Gills anywhere?" Lily was frantically asking each group of students she came across.

By the time she had asked all of the students, James had searched the entire train and reported his failure.

"We could just walk everyone over to the Ministry cars and tell the drivers and Professor Aligne that Gills is M.I.A.. It's not like we're not capable of walking a few meters," suggested James.

"You're right," said Lily. "Let's just get these students over to the cars and collect the Hogwarts students, should be a piece of cake."

James went through the barrier first and then Lily let the students out a few at a time. Then, with one last scan of the platform to see if Richard was going to show up, Lily joined the group.

All was going well until suddenly they reached the Hogwarts students. One minute James and Lily were greeting the returning students and explaining why they didn't have a teacher with them to Professor Aligne and then the next minute, people started screaming.

James and Lily looked up and saw their worst nightmares coming true. Death Eaters were swarming the station, coming towards their group, torturing and killing the innocent muggles as they went.

"Everyone run!" ordered the not-so-brave DADA teacher, Professor Aligne.

The students immediately scattered, abandoning their possessions and trying to find places to hide. James, Lily, Sirius and Peter joined the terrified students by hiding in a nearby loo, fear taking over their movements.

"We need to alert Dumbledore!" Lily yelled over the screams of the dying, which were audible even in the bathroom. "James, Sirius apparate to Hogsmeade and James you run to school! Peter and I will try and find the students and get them to apparate to Hogsmeade! Sirius wait in Hogsmeade and find a safe place to hide all of the students!"

"We can stay and help!" yelled Sirius and James in unison.

"Don't be idiots! In your animagus form, James, you can get to Hogwarts the fastest! And Sirius, you know Hogsmeade better than most; you'll be able to guide everyone and keep them safe. Go now or we'll **all** die!" Lily shouted. "Hurry up!"

James and Sirius looked at each other and then nodded. Sirius disapparated and James was right behind him, but first he leaned over to Lily and gave her a kiss on the lips. "Be careful," he whispered in her ear before he too disapparated.

"Come on Peter!" ordered Lily, who did not allow herself to bask in the warm, tingly feeling that James' kiss had left her.

Although, he was frightened out of his mind, Peter knew he wouldn't be able to disapparate without splinching himself and he would rather stick with Lily, a very skilled witch, than stay by himself, so he followed her out of the loo and into the war zone.

It was worse that either of the teenagers could have ever imagined. Even though the attack had only started minutes ago, blood was already spattered everywhere and bodies lay haphazardly on the ground. Death Eaters in black cloaks and masks were everywhere. Spells of all colors flashed through the air. A few of the trains were burning and as Lily and Peter looked on, one train exploded, killing a countless number of people. Also, the Death Eaters who weren't busy torturing people on the ground or levitating them into the air to torment them, were occupied with destroying the train station.

"Come on," said Lily as she pulled on Peter's sleeve.

She and Peter kept to the edge of the wall and tried not to draw attention to themselves. Whenever they could they ducked behind pieces of the debris from the destruction of the walls and other structures. Behind these clumps of stone and brick, they found many cowering students, whom Lily often had to side-along apparate to Hogsmeade while Peter tried to calm down those who were waiting their turn. In this manner, Lily and Peter were able to save twelve students.

However, while they were trying to dart from one soda machine that had been levitated purposefully to land on a muggle, Lily was hit with a particularly nasty cutting hex that sliced her abdomen causing her to scream out in agony as she fell and slid across the floor.

Peter had watched helplessly as the spell hit Lily and saw her fall to the ground. Then the courage that the Sorting Hat had seen in him reared up inside of him and instead of running off and leaving Lily to her death, he altered his course and ran to her side. Then he put his hands under her arms and dragged her over to the next pile of rubble.

Once they had reached relative safety, Lily's eyes flickered open and coughing up some blood, she said, "That was very brave of you Peter. Thank you."

Then she gingerly pulled back her sweatshirt and shirt, which were both already soaked with blood and tried to see how bad the damage was. Although her wand hand was shaky, after she quickly summed up her injury, Lily began some complicated healing charms on herself.

Peter watched, fascinated, as the wound closed up and the skin knitted itself back together, only leaving a thick red scar that stretched across her stomach.

Then Lily closed her eyes and tried to breathe deeply and evenly.

"Don't leave me alone!" cried Peter as he grasped Lily's hand trying to keep her from becoming unconscious.

"Don't leave me alone!" mimicked a deep male's voice. "How touching. I suppose I'll just have to kill you at the same time then…"

The Death Eater was half-way through the killing curse when an amplified voice called, "The aurors are here! Take prisoners!"

"All the better," the man grinned. "I hate killing under pressure. I much prefer the long drawn-out executions."

He bound both Peter and Lily with thick cords and grabbing Peter roughly, apparated away. This was because he was skilled enough to grab and disapparate with both prisoners. After hearing the tell-tale crack of disapparition, Lily opened her eyes and saw the aurors trying to round up the Death Eaters. Hope fluttered in her chest, hope that someone would notice her before the Death Eater came back for her, but no one glanced her way and the ropes were too tight across her body to allow her to force enough air out of her lungs to shout.

But then she saw Dumbledore, who was stunning Death Eaters as he ran down the train station, apparently looking for something or someone. Surely he would find her. Surely he would know how important it was that she did not get captured. Dumbledore's gaze had finally met hers, and she felt relief wash over her, when the Death Eater apparated next to her, grabbed her arm and disapparated. Having lost all hope, Lily allowed herself to fall into an unconscious state, which was brought about by blood loss, paralyzing fear, overwhelming pain, and crushing disappointment.

If only Lily had waited a second longer before darting out into the open. If only James had remembered the password to Dumbledore's office a minute sooner. If only Dumbledore had run faster.

If Only.


	20. Regrets and Last Wishes

**Disclaimer: I do not own any Harry Potter or Harry Potter related copyrights.**

The first thing that Lily saw when she opened her eyes was wet and slimy grey rock. The second thing she saw when she turned her head to take a better look at her surroundings was Vicky. Vicky was sitting with her back to the wall, her knees drawn up to her chest with her arms on top of her knees and her head lying on her arms.

"Vicky?" Lily croaked finally.

Vicky's head shot up quickly. "You're alive! Oh, I thought you were going to die and I didn't have a wand so I couldn't help, and Merlin, it's awful!"

"Where are we?" asked Lily, who slowly and painstakingly lifted herself off of the floor where she had been thrown unceremoniously. However, as soon as Lily had stood up, the not wholly healed wound on her stomach forced her to sit back down.

Vicky watched all this with interest and at last said, "I don't know."

"How long have we been here?" asked Lily as she eased herself into a sitting position up against the cold wall which sent shivers up her spine.

"I don't have a watch, so I don't know. But it's got to have been hours, maybe even a whole day. You've been out of it the whole time," remarked Vicky.

Lily nodded slowly, taking this all into consideration. She tried to process the information as Dumbledore had taught her, but her pain was getting in the way. Although she had managed to stop the bleeding and speed up the natural healing process, she was by no means healed.

So Lily decided to speak aloud, hoping that her cellmate might prove as intelligent under pressure as she was in class. "There is one door with one tiny window with bars, no other windows or other visible escape routes. We have both been abducted from the train station in London by men in black cloaks and masks, probably Death Eaters. So doubtless we are in the mansion of an old family who supports Voldemort; a family old enough and rich enough to have a dungeon. Perhaps the Blacks, maybe the Malfoys, the Lestranges are a possibility…"

"But what difference does it make which family it is?" interrupted Vicky.

"Point taken," conceded Lily. "Though maybe if I knew the family I could think of possible escape routes, contacts, and figure out where we are in the country or if we are even still in Great Britain. How many times were you apparated to get here?"

"Just once, but again, why does any of that matter? I've heard that you're a muggleborn; what would you know about any of the purebloods?"

"Not much," admitted Lily. "But how much do you know about any of this? I'm willing to bet that you have no idea why you are sitting here, especially next to me, a person you seem to especially hate though I'm not sure why, instead of being returned to your school by a long and uncomfortable floo journey."

Vicky crumbled, but who wouldn't? Tears trickled down her face as she brokenly said, "I have no idea! What is going on? Does this have anything to do with all those attacks that the newspaper just glosses over?"

Lily sighed and said, "It has everything to do with that. And I think the _thing_ behind those attacks wants to ensure that the Ministry won't receive any international help by killing, hurting and holding international students hostage. In fact, I bet that allowing Britain into the annual exchange was Voldemort's doing. It seems a bit too much of a coincidence otherwise… and then the fact that Richard was sent to Hogwarts… and conspicuously absent on the platform…"

Lily's explanation became more and more just mutterings to herself, causing Vicky to look confused and finally say, "I still don't understand what's going on."

"I don't either, not really."

"So what do we do then?" asked Vicky, who was not used to sitting back or being helpless.

"I assume that you've already pounded on the door and found it unyielding?"

Vicky nodded.

"Then I propose we sit here and chat to pass the time until we are tortured, killed or released. Well actually we won't be released, though we might be rescued. Anyways, hello, my name is Lily. I'm a seventh year at Hogwarts. I am seventeen years old and my favorite flavor of ice cream is mint chocolate chip."

"How can you just sit there and make pointless conversation?" asked Vicky jumping up.

"I am sitting because as you recently saw, I an unable to stand," remarked Lily dryly.

"How can you just accept this?! We're going to die! Don't you care?!" yelled Vicky in frustration.

"Of course I care!" shouted Lily. "It was just yesterday or maybe it was today that James and I started dating… and I never got to say good-bye to my sisters or friends… or take my N.E.W.T.'s or graduate or go to a university or do anything with my life! Seventeen years wasted! Completely wasted!"

"I kinda feel the same way," said Vicky softening. "Like there's so much I wanted to do, but just never did. Everyone has always told me to live as if every day was my last, but I never did. What would you have done differently yesterday if you had known this is where you'd be today?"

Lily patted the hard stone floor next to her, which Vicky gladly sat down on, and said, "Probably written several letters because I'm too much of a chicken to say anything to anyone's face. Then I probably would have just lived my day the exact same way as I always do."

"I'd like to think that I would have been brave enough to tell everyone how I really felt about them, and have done something completely crazy and memorable, but I probably would have done the same thing you said," replied Vicky honestly.

"What would do you if Remus was here instead of me?" asked Lily.

"Probably would tell him that I think he's really sweet and cute and even though he probably doesn't like me back, I'd snog him senseless. Well at least I hope I'd snog him senseless; I've never actually snogged someone before, so maybe I'm really bad at it," Vicky confided in Lily. "Have you ever been kissed?"

Lily thought about lying, but then realized that there was no point in lying, "Yeah."

"Really?" whined Vicky. "Why am I the only unattractive girl in the entire world?"

"You're not unattractive," said Lily kindly. "In fact, I have been told that a certain Gryffindor boy in my year wouldn't mind being locked up here with you."

"I do not want to be locked up with Potter!" joked Vicky. "Though I bet **you** wouldn't mind."

"Not particularly, especially since he would probably know where we are and what to do about it. He's pretty good at getting himself into and out of trouble. But anyways, why do you hate him so much?" asked Lily curiously.

Vicky looked over at Lily and said carefully, "You seem to like him a lot and everything, but he seems like such a jerk. Like he's always making fun of people and he's so arrogant and conceited. He also shows off all the time and he's always bragging about his grades, and Quidditch. Don't you see that?"

Lily thought over what Vicky said for a moment and then answered, "I really don't think he's like that, but I see where you're coming from because I used to say the same things about him. I believe my favorite phrase was 'arrogant bullying toerag.'"

"I think we're just going to have to agree to disagree," said Vicky.

"Alright," agreed Lily.

"So what was your first kiss like?" asked Vicky after a short pause.

"You know, I don't even really remember. It wasn't romantic or memorable like in stories and books. I'm still waiting for my _official_ first kiss, you know, one that actually gives me butterflies in my stomach and makes my foot pop up."

"At least you've been kissed," grumbled Vicky good-naturedly.

"Moving on, if you were an animagus, what form would you hope you turned out to be?" asked Lily.

"Something small enough to fit through the crack under the door or through the bars on the little window in the door and has wings so I can get out of here. What about you?"

"Oh, ummm… same I guess. But I wouldn't want to be a bug or anything, so maybe I'd wish for the bars to be bigger and I'd be a bird."

"Like a canary or a robin or something?"

"Not something bigger and dangerous like a falcon or a hawk or an eagle or something like that."

Vicky grinned, "So you could rip off the heads of the people who put us in here?"

Lily grinned and laughed, "Exactly!"

Then Vicky asked her cellmate, "So what's your favorite kind of cookie?"

Not even pausing to realize that such questions were kind of odd, Lily replied, "Chocolate chip. What's your favorite scent of hand lotion?"

"Strawberry. What's your favorite cuisine?"

"Italian," said Lily as a smile drifted onto her face. Even though she was forced to go on so many dates with spineless, personality-less pretty boys, the positive side was that she got to eat in expensive restaurants for most of her meals. Also, because most of her dates were unimaginative, they usually took her to classy Italian places, her favorite. "If someone wrote your biography what do you think it should be titled?"

"And Then Disaster Struck; Its Name Was Vicky," Vicky with only a moment of thought. "Would you rather live by an ocean or on top of a mountain?"

"The ocean I think. What color hair does your dream guy have?"

"Dirty blonde," answered Vicky without a moment's hesitation.

"Kind of like Remus Lupin's hair?" asked Lily before Vicky could ask a question.

Vicky smiled and blushed. "Kind of… I guess something like that…" she muttered.

"I think you two would be very cute together," Lily said quietly.

"Even though I think he's a jerk, I think you and Potter are cute together too. He obviously cares about you."

"You think?" asked the ever-insecure Lily.

"Lily, I don't know much about relationships, but I have four older brothers and I have seen how they looked at girls they really cared about and girls they only liked because they were pretty. Potter looks at you like you're someone he really cares about," said Vicky firmly but gently.

Lily was quiet for a minute and then said, "Thanks Vicky; that really means a lot to me. I just wish I hadn't tried to avoid him and his feelings for me for so long."

"I kinda wish that I had told Remus that I kinda like him more than just friends," sighed Vicky.

"I finally admitted it to James."

"Does it feel any different? That he knows that you like him?"

Trying not to cry, Lily said, "Yeah it does; it really does. At the very least I know that he knew. But then again it kinda makes me sad because if I died and he thought that I only thought of us as friends, then maybe it wouldn't hurt him so much."

"But did telling him how you feel really change how he feels? If you think about it, it might have hurt him more if you died without telling him because then he'd be stuck with all of the 'if only's' and 'could-have-been's', and I bet that that would hurt a lot more," said Vicky very rationally.

Lily felt that her entire rationale behind her approach to James and her relationship with him had shifted dramatically, possibly into an entirely different solar system. She was silent for several minutes, and then finally brokenly said, "I… I just didn't want to see him get hurt! I thought I was doing the right thing, but then I didn't care anymore! Then I just really wanted to date him! But either way he gets hurt! Vicky, I really really care about him! I don't want to die!"

Vicky put her arm around Lily and rubbed her back soothingly. She also let Lily put her head on her shoulder and just cry. Within minutes Vicky was crying too. Lily reached her arm around Vicky's shoulders and they cried for everything and everyone they could lose at any minute. There was no point in being brave anymore.

-----

"Professor! Where are Lily and Peter?" asked James, out of breath as he finally caught up to Dumbledore. Dumbledore had just returned from St. Mungo's where all of the students that Sirius had helped to hide were being checked out for any injuries. He had been heading to the House common rooms, where the students had been sent as per procedure, when James caught up to him.

Calmly Dumbledore turned to James and said, "I'm sorry James, but they are among the missing currently."

"What?! No! That's not possible! Lily's the brightest witch I know! If anyone could survive it's her! And Peter, no he can't be gone!" yelled James in disbelief.

"I know this must be hard on you, but just keep hoping for the best. There are three teams of Aurors currently searching for Lily, Peter and the other missing students," said Dumbledore, trying to comfort his devastated student.

"How can I help?"

"I need you to address all of the prefects in my office. The password is phoenix feather. Once everyone is there briefly explain what occurred at the train station and assign patrolling areas. Everyone is to patrol in groups of three. If any group finds something, anything, out of the ordinary they are to send up red sparks with their wands and find one of the patrolling teachers immediately. Inform them that they are not to separate for any reason. Also, any student found in the corridors is to be escorted back to their common room and fifty points will be taken from their house. Any questions?" asked Dumbledore hurriedly.

James shook his head slowly. He was very disappointed that he wasn't able to actually **do** anything to directly help Lily and Peter.

"Alright then, I have already spoken to the Slytherins and Hufflepuffs, so those prefects should already be on their way. The Gryffindors and Ravenclaws will arrive shortly. And James?" said the Headmaster as James turned to walk to Dumbledore's office.

"Yes sir?"

"They will find them," he said, sounding confident.

"Yes sir," said James with much less assurance in his voice.

As Dumbledore had said, soon all of the prefects were gathered in the Headmaster's office. Remus was the last one in and once he entered, he went directly to James, who was standing by himself staring pensively out of the window.

"Dumbledore told me to give this to you. He said that it's a list he just received from St. Mungo's confirming all of the students that were admitted there, and the bodies that were identified," explained Remus as he handed over the folded paper.

James took it with a shaking hand. He didn't want to see Lily's and Peter's names in the list of the missing; that would make it real. However, he did open it and scanned the names. Then, when he thought it couldn't get worse, it did. Right under Lily's name was Vicky's and a couple of names below that was Peter's name.

"Remus, did you read this?" asked James sharply.

"No why?" asked Remus worriedly.

"I think you should see it," said James. He was unable to tell Remus that the girl Remus fancied was also missing.

Remus' eyes found Lily's name first. He stopped there and looked at James and said, "Mate, I'm so sorry. But Lily's so smart; she'll find a way out."

"Keep reading," whispered James, who found that he could no longer look Remus in the eye.

"Oh Merlin! No! Not her!" said Remus weakly as his voice failed him. "And Peter too!"

"I'm sorry mate," said James, echoing Remus' earlier statement.

"At least they aren't on the deceased list, right?" said Remus feebly.

"Right," said James.

"Well, the troops are awaiting your orders Mr. Head Boy sir," said Remus, attempting at humor to ease his pain.

James nodded and walked to the front of the gathered prefects. He elaborated on what Dumbledore had told all of the students and gave them their instructions. Because there were only 25 prefects, James and Remus decided to patrol together and James appointed the two seventh year Slytherin prefects to patrol together.

James and Remus began their patrol in silence, each lost in their own thoughts. Eventually, James broke the silence by asking Remus, "Do you think they'll be okay? Honestly."

"Honestly?" asked Remus as he looked up towards the ceiling to avoid looked at James. "I don't know, but I really hope so."

"Me too," said James, his pain evident in his voice. "I don't know what I'll do without her."

"Vicky was going to come back to England," said Remus dully.

"She was going to come back for you," James pointed out, hoping that he could lift Remus' spirits.

"Nah," said Remus dismissively. "She really liked London and she's always wanted to live in Europe and the Auror Program here is really good."

"So is the program in France and I'm sure that she would like Paris just as much as she liked London, but there's only one thing that's missing in France that is here in England and that's you mate. Don't put yourself down," said James.

Remus sighed. "Not that any of that matters now. She might never get to go anywhere."

"Scary thought, isn't it?"

"That and that she might… you know… I might never see her again and she'll never know that I really fancied her but didn't have the guts to ask her out."

"It doesn't really matter; I asked Lily out and I could still lose her."

"But she knows; she knows that you fancy her, and you know that she knows. I might be stuck with the 'what-ifs' forever," said Remus sadly.

"Let's just hope that it doesn't come to that," suggested James.

"Yeah," Remus agreed sullenly. "Let's hope."

Then the two friends drifted back into a silence that lasted until they met Dumbledore two hours later.

"Hello boys, I trust all is well?" asked the Headmaster.

"Yes Professor. Any news about the missing students?" asked James.

"Nine of the students were delivered to the Ministry; all of them were dead. They have all been identified, and none of them were Peter, Lily or Vicky."

"How many are still missing Professor?" inquired Remus.

"Seventeen," answered the only man sadly. "The Aurors are doing the best they can and they think they may have some idea where the students are being held."

"Professor, it's already been almost eight hours; is there really any chance that they're still alive?" asked James desperately.

"I hope that if my students only learn one thing here it is that there is always hope," said Dumbledore with a bittersweet serenity in his voice. "Since it has been determined that there is no immediate threat on the school, the lockdown is now officially over. So, please return to your dormitories and try to get some sleep. If there are any updates I will be sure to get in touch with you both."

James and Remus nodded numbly and started to walk away.

As they walked away, Dumbledore said, "Oh and if any students are wondering, anyone who happens to wander off the grounds in the next few days or so, regardless of their intentions, will face immediate expulsion."

"Yes sir," said Remus and James together, knowing that the comment was aimed at them.

"Were you going to sneak out to go rescue them?" asked James after they were out of earshot.

"I wouldn't know the first place to look, but if I had some idea of where to go… I don't know. Would you?" asked Remus.

"I'd like to say that I would be out of here in a minute if I knew where to go, but I'm not quite sure if I'm stupid enough to actually go through with that. I'm just an average wizard; I wasn't even brave enough to stick around in the battle. Maybe if I had then Peter and Lily and Vicky wouldn't be missing right now," said James, finally admitting what had been eating away at him for hours.

"What happened back there?" asked Remus cautiously.

"As soon as we met up with the Hogwarts students we were ambushed. Lily, Sirius, Peter and I ducked into a loo and then Lily took charge. She ordered Padfoot and I to apparate to Hogsmeade. Sirius was in charge of hiding the students and I was supposed to get help," said James.

"What you did was important. They would probably all be dead if Dumbledore didn't get the information when he did."

"But if I was a better wizard then Lily wouldn't have sent me away; she would have wanted me to stay with her and help her to protect the students. Dumbledore shouldn't have made me Head Boy. Anyone would be better, braver than me! I don't even deserve to be a Gryffindor!" said James dismally.

Remus stopped short and turned to James. "Mate, don't be so hard on yourself. For Merlin's sake, you're only seventeen! You don't have to be a super hero!"

"But Lily was so brave! She is always so brave and cool under pressure."

"I think that Lily's just one of those people who is at her best when everyone else is at their worst. And she just makes it up as she goes along. She told me that after I nearly, umm… mauled her. She's really a remarkable person," said Remus quietly.

"I think a lot of people don't see that about her."

"She's not the easiest person to really get to know, our very own resident Ice Queen. I don't blame her though. I would have given up on life long ago if I had to deal with half the stuff she does," said Remus thoughtfully.

James stared at his friend and said disbelievingly, "Are you listening to yourself? You have more stuff to deal with than anyone I know. A lot of people have to deal with the same stuff you do, but I have never heard of anyone that deals as well as you do."

"Thanks Prongs," said Remus who was warmed by his friend's heart-felt sentiment, even if it wasn't very articulate.

"Anytime Moony."

-----

Finally Lily and Vicky fell into an uneasy sleep, their heads resting up against one another and dried tears on their cheeks. Then they were suddenly awoken when the door to their cell was thrown open and hit the wall with a resounding bang.

"So I'm told that there's a pretty little mudblood who doesn't know her place in here," said an older man with long, straight white blonde hair. "The one with the red hair," the man instructed his lackeys.

Two men entered the cell, roughly picked Lily up and led her out. Once she was in the dimly lit hallway, the man closed and locked the door before Vicky could react. Then he turned to Lily and asked condescendingly, "Why aren't you screaming and crying and begging me for mercy?"

"Would it help?" asked Lily calmly, though on the inside she was screaming.

"No, I actually find that cries of anguish motivate me," said the man cruelly as he started walking away down the hall. His minions, leading Lily, followed him.

After traveling through a series of staircases and hallways, the silent procession came to a pair of very ornate and decorative wooden double doors. Even under the terrible circumstances, Lily had a slight feeling of awe for the beautiful paneling on the doors, until she realized how incredibly gruesome the depicted scene sprawled across the two doors truly was. It was a scene of wizards riding centaurs and hunting others beasts, like werewolves, vampires, trolls, dwarves, and gnomes, and of course everywhere glorified snakes were intricately carved into the wood.

The man in charge opened the doors and walked into a large room that was lavishly decorated with floor-to-ceiling, hand carved book shelves, delicate chairs and sofas upholstered in rich velvets and a massive mahogany desk that seemed to dominate the room. Despite the fire in the fireplace that was big enough to roast a hippogriff, there seemed to be a chilliness in the room.

"We'll be outside sir," said the guards as Lily was shoved inside. They quickly left the room and closed the doors securely behind them.

The man seated himself behind his desk and said, "Won't you have a seat?"

Lily didn't reply but, thinking that it was in her best interest to obey, complied with his wishes.

"Now Miss Evans, do you know why you are here?"

Lily shook her head 'no'; she was afraid that if she spoke he would hear the fear in her voice.

The man's temporarily congenial manner suddenly became very harsh and cold. "It is because you and the rest of the filthy people like you don't know your place! You think that you are worth giving an education to and being treated like a real person with actual feelings, but you aren't. The only people who really matter in this world are the pure-bloods! From wherever people like you go when they die you shall see," he said, his voice once more calm and reserved, "the destruction of your entire world right before your very eyes. Everyone you know and love will fall, all because you thought that you had enough worth to go to Hogwarts and learn how to be a witch. It will be all your fault."

"Why me?" asked Lily shakily. "There are so many other muggleborns, why are you targeting me?"

"Because you are offensive to both myself and the Dark Lord. Dumbledore fairly signed the order for your death when he made you Head Girl. There are so many other more qualified, worthy girls that could have been given the honor, but that fool Dumbledore gave it to you, you a lowly mudblood! For your foolishness and disgrace to the name of wizard you shall pay," threatened the man as he stood up quickly. "Crucio!"

Lily fell off of the wooden chair in which she had been sitting tensely and hit the ground hard, though she didn't even feel it because of the waves of pain that were cascading over her entire body. Lily convulsed and writhed on the ground, her screams echoing throughout the house and causing chills in everyone with half a heart. Lily had never felt so much pain in her life. Finally after one terrible minute, sixty agonizing seconds, the cruel man lifted the horrendous curse. Lily couldn't move; all she could do was sob and silently pray for death because even death would be better than feeling so sore all over.

Lily was faintly aware that there were the sounds of a scuffle outside of the doors of the office. What she was more aware of however, was that the man behind the desk had heard the sounds and had identified them. This led him to again put the Cruciatus Curse on Lily.

A moment later the doors had been blasted off of their hinges and several men in auror robes had rushed in. Their leader disarmed the man, bound him magically and said with pleasure apparent in his voice, "Abraxas Malfoy you are hereby under arrest for imprisoning several witches and wizards, perjury, and the use of an Unforgivable Curse."

As the man, who Lily vaguely recognized as Alastor Moody from the pictures in the Prophet, escorted her tormentor to the Ministry, he barked to the others, "Find the others and get them and her to Mungo's now!"

Two of the men walked over to Lily and were trying to pick her up when she began screaming, the pain of their touch was unbearable on her damaged muscles. She closed her eyes to try and block out the situation.

"She needs immediate attention," whispered one.

"Yeah that heartless Malfoy can do the Cruciatus Curse almost as well as You-Know-Who himself I've heard."

"I'm just glad that Moody finally caught him in the act."

"How do we get her out of here?"

Just then a third voice entered the picture, "Why don't you boys head out with the others and try to find where the kids are being kept. I'll take care of her."

"Yes sir," said the two young men. Lily heard them hurry to catch up with the others.

Gently Lily was levitated onto a cozy armchair. Gingerly she opened her eyes and saw a man who was squatting down so that he was at her eye level.

"James?" she asked in a whisper.

"No," said the man with a chuckle. "James is my son. I'm Christopher Potter. What's your name?"

"Lily Evans," she said quietly.

Christopher grinned. "I've heard quite a bit about you. Well anyways, here Lily have some chocolate. I find it's very useful stuff, so I always carry some with me, a fact that James and Sirius frequently take advantage of."

Mr. Potter took a wrapped bar of Honeydukes chocolate out of his pocket and broke off a small piece. He put it in Lily's hand and she shakily put it into her mouth.

"There now," he said fatherly. "You'll be just fine."

"Thank you."

"You're welcome," he said. Then he conjured up a chair, similar to the one Lily was sitting in, and sat down across from her. "So tell me Lily, do you have any brothers or sisters?"

"Three sisters," she said softly.

Christopher whistled lowly. "Your poor dad; I don't know what I would do with a house full of women. I'm lucky because Sirius, James and I outnumber my wife. I don't think taking votes would work so well for you dad."

Lily laughed, but then grimaced.

"Have another piece," said Mr. Potter. "Pain-relief potions don't work nearly as well as chocolate for the Cruciatus curse."

Lily held out her hand for the offered piece of chocolate, but then she began coughing violently. When she took her hand away from her mouth, she saw that there were flecks of blood on her palm.

It was then that Mr. Potter perceived that the darker area on Lily's sweatshirt wasn't someone else's blood that had gotten on her during the battle, but hers.

"Let me see," he said commandingly.

Lily lifted up her shirt and sweatshirt slowly, revealing the scar on her abdomen that was clearly agitated.

"It was from the attack," Lily explained. "I healed some of it before I was captured and they took my wand away."

Nodding, Mr. Potter said, "I think you initially sustained some internal injuries that have been reopened by the Cruciatus curse. We'll just head over to St. Mungo's and get you checked out."

"Okay," agreed Lily as she took Mr. Potter's hand and stood up. At first her knees buckled under her weight, but Christopher didn't let her fall, nor did he pick her up like a helpless invalid. He just helped her to support herself by placing an arm around her shoulders. She was very thankful to Mr. Potter that he didn't make her feel even more helpless and weak than she already did.

Slowly the pair made their way to the main hallway where an auror came up to them and said, "We found them Christopher, the other sixteen were all there. They all say that they weren't seriously hurt, just a few cuts and burns here and there, but the others are escorting them up here and then apparating to St. Mungo's for precautionary measures."

"Good, good, I'll leave Miss Lily Evans in your capable hands then. I believe that I am more needed at Hogwarts where a certain Gryffindor seventh year is anxiously waiting for news," said Mr. Potter with a warm smile at Lily as he changed positions with the other auror.

"Say hi to him for me," said Lily as Mr. Potter walked quickly towards the door so he could get to the apparition point.

"Will do!" he called over his shoulder.

"Hi Lily, I'm Brian," said the auror that was now helping her.

"Hi," said Lily.

"So you go to Hogwarts?"

"I'm a seventh year."

"Best years of my life were at Hogwarts; enjoy it while you still can."

"Yeah."

"I was a Hufflepuff."

"I'm a Gryffindor."

"Is McGonagall still teaching?"

As Lily and the auror exited the mansion, engaged in small talk, Lucius Malfoy stood on the balcony that overlooked the entrance hall. He was staring at a certain red-headed young woman out of the large window on the second floor. As well as sending her a glare, under his breath Lucius promised to avenge his father. If it hadn't been for Lily's screams, the aurors wouldn't have been led to the study, and his father would have been able to convinced the aurors that there weren't any students hidden in the dungeon. If it hadn't been for Lily, his father would not now be disgracing the entire family by being arrested and put into jail.

"I will make you pay Lily Evans," hissed Malfoy. "You will suffer."


	21. A Tangle of Bodies

**Disclaimer: I do not own any Harry Potter or Harry Potter related copyrights.**

As he hurried along the hallways of Hogwarts, Christopher Potter would have liked to stop and reminisce, but he had a mission. He had to tell his son that Lily, Peter and the others were okay.

"Hello," Christopher greeted the Fat Lady. "So lovely to see you again. The password is Tiddleguppelyhunks."

"You got it," said the Fat Lady with a yawn. "But next time could you come a bit earlier. It must be nearing dawn!"

"Yes m'am," said Christopher as he walked into the Gryffindor common room, energized by the adrenaline rushing through his veins.

It only took the former Gryffindor a moment to orient himself and head over to the staircase that led to the boys' dormitories. Once he arrived at the top of the stairs, Christopher knocked on the door and let himself in.

The three boys were on the floor playing Exploding Snap to keep their minds off of what was going on. All three of them looked up when Mr. Potter entered.

"Dad? What are you doing here?" asked James.

"Hey Mr. P!" called Sirius as he waved.

"Do you have some news?" asked Remus hopefully.

"I do indeed!" said Christopher joyfully. "James, your mother says to clean your dormitory; it's a pigsty."

"Dad," groaned James. "Just tell us!"

"Fine, fine, Lily and Peter are both fine. All the missing students were found and rescued."

"What about a girl with really strangely colored hair? It might have been orange or green, I can't remember. Is she okay?" asked Remus worriedly.

"If she was taken captive then she's fine. I was told that all of the students were found and I only know of one that was seriously injured. They are being checked out at St. Mungo's as we speak and then they will all return to where they belong. My guess is that most of them will be back by this a bit later this morning," said Christopher reassuringly.

"Thank Merlin," all of the present Marauders said in unison.

"Unfortunately, I must be going now. If I hurry I might be able to get home in time to get an hour of sleep before I have to go into work. Get some sleep guys and count your blessings that it was me and not Mrs. Potter who decided to visit!"

"Bye Mr. Potter," said Remus and Sirius as James said "Bye Dad!"

Mr. Potter waved and exited the dormitory. He was just about to step out of the port hole when James called, "Wait!"

Mr. Potter turned around and James said, "Thanks dad, for coming and all…"

"No problem son," said Christopher as he tenderly ruffled his son's hair. "You know what? I like that Lily girl. She's very polite, strong and brave."

"Yeah," said James with a grin.

"She's very beautiful too, even covered in dirt and blood," said Mr. Potter, not thinking about what he was saying.

James' eyes widened as he asked, "Why was she covered in blood? What happened? Was she hurt really badly?"

"She was hit with a cutting curse of some kind during the battle, but she pretty much healed it all up herself. She must be very talented and smart to be able to do that," finished Mr. Potter, hoping to distract his son.

"Is she really okay now?"

"She's fine. The Healers will probably give her a couple of potions and she'll be right as rain. The wound probably won't even scar. It's kind of too bad, that would be a wicked scar. Though I suppose a girl wouldn't see it as something to show off."

"Probably not," said James, a smile returning to his face.

"Well, I have to get going now; I'll see you at Christmas then?"

"Yeah. Oh and dad?"

"Yeah James?"

"I asked her out and she finally said yes," said James proudly.

"About time," said Mr. Potter. "Ask Lily to come over for your mother's Christmas Eve ball."

"How did you know I was talking about Lily?" wondered James.

"As if you would talk about any other girl," scoffed James' dad. "Bye!"

"Bye," said James. Then he went up to his dormitory and went to bed, finally able to get some sleep.

-----

"There you go Miss Evans, just one more potion and you'll be free to go," said the elderly Healer that had examined Lily.

Lily made a face but drank the potion anyways. "Has anyone ever thought of maybe putting some sort of flavor into the potions? Muggles do it with their medicine. They put in flavors like cherry, grape, orange and blubblegum," said Lily.

"Hmmm," said the Healer. "My nephew works in Potion making, I'll have to ask him if that's possible when I see him at Christmastime."

"It would certainly make this whole process more pleasant," said Lily with a smile. She was feeling much better now that she had been properly healed by a skilled person.

"Yes it would," agreed the Healer with a smile. "Now just make sure that you see Madame Pomfrey twice a day for some salve to get rid of that scar. Other than that you're in tip top condition! Have a nice day."

"You too and thank you," said Lily as she hopped off of the hospital bed and went to the main desk to sign out. Then she was walking to the nearest fireplace to floo back to school when Vicky caught up to her.

"Hey," said Lily.

"Hi," said Vicky with a grin.

"What's up?"

"Well, my parents are here to take me home and they are not happy about this whole incident. They've basically forbidden me to leave the country ever again, but this whole thing has made me want to come back even more. I'm more needed here than I am back home. So I just wanted to say that hopefully I will see you again soon," said Vicky.

Lily pulled Vicky into a hug and said, "I'm glad that we friends now and I couldn't have gotten through all this without you. I surely would have lost my mind if I was left alone in that cell."

"Same here," said Vicky. "I have to go now, but don't forget to write to me. Remus has my info."

"Don't forget to write back!"

"Definitely. See ya later Lily! And don't get yourself into any more trouble."

"Fine, I'll give up my obsession with walking down dark alleys in London by myself at night, if you insist," joked Lily.

"Now I really do have to go, bye!"

"Bye!" said Lily waving wildly.

Vicky waved back with just as much enthusiasm. Both girls erupted into giggles because they both knew that they looked ridiculous.

"Hey Lily!" called Peter, diverting Lily's attention away from Vicky.

"Hey Peter, how are you?" asked Lily.

"Much better now," said Peter. "Are you heading back to school?"

"Yup. Dumbledore left instructions for us to floo to his office. I was just about to leave," answered Lily.

Then Lily and Peter got in line for the fireplace and flooed back to school. When they arrived in Dumbledore's house they found that the other six Hogwarts students who had been captured were waiting for them.

Once they were all settled into comfy armchairs Dumbledore said, "I cannot tell you how happy I am to see you all safe and well again. You have all been through a terrible ordeal so if you would like to take the day off of classes tomorrow you may. Now I think that it would be best if you all went to your dormitories and got some sleep. Except Miss Evans, I would like to speak with you for a moment."

The students slowly trickled out of Dumbledore's office and made their ways to the dormitories, except for Lily.

"Ah, Lily. How are you faring?" asked Lily's Headmaster and mentor.

"Fine. Malfoy actually only tortured me because he somehow found out I was muggle-born, not because of, well you know," Lily explained.

"That bodes well for you," said Dumbledore. "As you well know, Voldemort has learned of our kind and has begun to try and recruit people like us. I believe that he will soon know of you if he doesn't already."

"Yes I know," was Lily bitterly as she avoided the old man's gaze by staring down at her hands.

"In other news, as you know muggles can not enter St. Mungo's because of the enchantments on it, so I went to your house to inform your parents of the attack. I spoke with your step-mother. She wanted to withdraw you from Hogwarts and keep you at home, but I convinced her that Hogwarts was the safest place for you right now, that if you went home so soon after the attack it would possibly put your family into danger. She agreed and said that you could remain here for now, but looks forward to seeing you at Christmas. A time at which I assured her that you would all be safe. Also, you should know that while I was at your house I added a few protective spells to the ones you put up last summer."

"Thank you Professor," said Lily gratefully.

"Anytime Lily, now I think you should head up to Gryffindor Tower and wake your friends; they'll be happy to know you're safe. Especially Mr. Potter, he was very worried about you," added Dumbledore with a knowing smile.

Lily smiled back, said good-bye and then left to reunite with her friends. First she checked the common room, but as it was six in the morning on a Sunday, it was deserted. Then, because she heard quite a commotion coming from the boys' dormitories, Lily decided to go up to see Marlene and Alice and let the Marauders celebrate Peter's return first. She would go to see them afterwards.

However, when she got up to her dorm she found that all of the girls were sleeping and she didn't really want to wake them. That, and her bed looked so inviting and she was so tired. She lay down on it, only anticipating taking a quick nap while waiting for her friends to wake up, but within a minute she had fallen into a deep and restful sleep.

Hours later Lily woke up to the sounds of her friends trying so hard to be quiet that they were being louder than if they had not been trying at all.

"Shhh! Marlene you're going to wake her up!" whispered Alice loudly.

"It's not my fault I'm clumsy! And who puts a trunk in the middle of the room anyways!" Marlene hissed back.

"I wouldn't have to put it in the middle of the room if you didn't…" Alice retorted.

"Hey guys," said Lily sleepily as she sat up. "What time is it?"

Marlene and Alice quickly stopped their fighting and ran over to Lily and hugged her tightly.

"Don't you ever scare us like that again! Do you hear me Lillian Marissa Evans?!" ordered Marlene as she tried to stop tears of joy and relief from running down her cheeks.

"We were so scared Lily," whispered Alice as she wiped away her tears with her sleeve.

"So was I," admitted Lily as she grinned through her own tears, glad to be reunited with her friends.

For a few minutes Alice and Marlene chatted away about nothing at all, trying to make it seem as if everything was okay, but the tears that threatened to fall from their eyes every time they looked at Lily was pretty much a dead giveaway.

Finally Alice decided that she and Marly had been selfish enough and she said, "Now Marly, we should let Lily go find James now."

Marly added, "Very true. He's been out of his mind waiting for you to wake up. He would have come up here himself to watch you sleep if he could figure out how to get up the stairs."

"And just so you know," Alice called after Lily as Lily went into the bathroom to shower, change and primp. "We know that you are dating James now!"

Lily didn't comment, but she turned her head and grinned at her two best mates over her should before she disappeared into the bathroom.

"Took them long enough," Marly muttered to Alice.

"They are so perfect for one another," sighed Alice. "It's so cute."

"Obnoxiously. I'm just glad that we don't have to watch them dance around each other anymore. The sexual tension was killing me!" joked Marlene.

Twenty minutes later, Lily was showered and dressed and looking for James.

"He's probably at dinner," said Alice as she consulted her watch once the three girls had left their empty common room.

"Whether he's there or not, that's where I'm going," announced Marlene. "I'm starved!"

"Me too," said Lily.

"I expect you would be," said Alice. "When's the last time you had a decent meal?"

"Lunch on Friday, maybe," said Lily after thinking about it for a while.

"Let's make this double time then," said Marlene. She grabbed Lily's and Alice's hands and started to run through the halls, skillfully weaving around students and teachers and dragging her friends with her.

Everything was going smoothly until Marlene looked behind her at her laughing friends. This caused her to not see the group of four seventh year Gryffindor boys walking to dinner in front of her. The result- a massive collision.

"Ugh," groaned Sirius from the bottom of the pile of bodies. "What was that?"

Remus, who had somehow managed to end up closer to the top, said rather cheerfully, "I think we were knocked over."

"No really?" James, whose face was being elbowed, said sarcastically. "I couldn't have guessed."

"Can someone help me?" yelled Peter from his awkward position. His left leg was under Sirius and his right leg was resting much closer to James' crotch than he ever wanted to be.

"Who is this?" asked Sirius as he pinched someone.

"Ouch!" yelled Marly. "Sirius you are such a pervert!"

"Oops," said Sirius innocently. "Hello Marlene."

Her response was to somehow smack him in the back of the head.

"So who else is here?" asked Remus.

"I am!" said Alice.

"Me too!" said Lily.

Remus craned his head and saw that the person who was draped over his back was in fact Lily Evans. "Hi Lily!"

"Lovely day isn't it?" said Lily smiling at him.

"You wouldn't be able to get off of me by any chance would you?" asked Remus politely.

"No," said Lily. "My right arm is somewhere near Sirius' head, my left leg is underneath Alice I think, and I think it's Peter who is on top of Marlene, who might be on my other leg.

"We might be able to get out of this if Sirius stops trying to tickle me!" said Marlene in between her laughs.

"I think I can wiggle out of this," said Alice as she worked to free herself.

With much groaning from everyone else as people were shoved, elbowed and kneed, Alice, who was on the very top, freed herself. She walked around the pile a few times, took a few steps back, got closer and then said, "Aha! Remus shift your right hand to the left, but don't grope Lily, then move your left leg to the right, but try not to hit Peter's foot because then the Potter line might end with James."

Remus did as he was told and then Alice instructed, "Now Lily, see if you can lift yourself up a bit so Remus can get out."

Lily did this, but caused much complaining from the people who had to support her weight. Remus quickly slid out, not wanting James to get any ideas. Remus then joined Alice in surveying the still tangled teenagers.

"Now Peter," said Remus. "Alice and I are going to pull you out, but for Merlin's sake don't kick James!"

Alice and Remus grabbed Peter by his robes and slowly dragged him out. Once he was free James let out a dramatic breath. "That was a close one!"

Marlene, who was now freed, jumped out of the pile. James then rolled off of Sirius and Lily was thus moved onto James.

"Hello," she said as James' eyes gazed all over her face, drinking in the features he had missed.

"Hello," he replied with a grin.

"I hate to break up this love fest," said Marlene in the background. "But Lily hasn't had anything to eat in two days, so we should make our way to the Great Hall, now."

Lily blushed and rolled off of James, who then stood up and helped her up.

"I hate you McKinnon," said James jokingly as he and Lily walked with the rest of the group towards the Great Hall.

"It's good to have you back," James whispered to Lily before joining the conversation about the upcoming Quidditch match between Hufflepuff and Slytherin.

She stood up on her tip toes and whispered in his ear, "It's even better to be back."

James responded by gently enveloping her hand in his. She looked up and him and gave him a smile, which he returned.

A few minutes later they walked into the Great Hall. People stared at the pair and whispers sprang up behind them like wildfire.

"Why are people looking at me like that?" Lily asked Marlene, who was sitting on her left.

"What did you think they would do when you walked into the Great Hall holding hands with James Potter? You remember, the one you once said you despised?" said Marlene casually.

"They're just settling all their bets," said Sirius who had overheard the question. "Speaking of which, Peter, you owe me seven galleons."

"And you, Padfoot, owe me thirty," said Remus gleefully.

"All three of you blokes owe me something too," said James grinning.

"Ah James no! Please no! We made that bet back in fourth year! You can't possibly expect us to do that! Remus, don't these bets have an expiration date?" asked Sirius desperately.

"I'm afraid not," said Remus sullenly.

"Please James, anything but that!" Peter begged.

"What is it?" asked Lily.

James burst out laughing.

"It's not funny Prongs!" said Sirius.

"Oh Padfoot, if you were me you would think it was hilarious," said James, who had stopped laughing, but was still grinning madly. "And besides, if I had lost, I would have had to do it all by myself. This way, the three of you get to be embarrassed together."

"What is it?!" asked Marlene impatiently.

"They have to shave their heads and be bald for the next two months," James said.

The three girls and James started laughing. The other Marauders just sat and sulked.

"I was hoping that you had forgotten," muttered Remus sourly.

"How could I forget that?"

"Speaking of bets," said Alice. "Marlene, you owe me one hundred chocolate frogs and three butterbeers."

"I do not!" protested Marlene.

"Do to! You bet me that Lily would never ever say yes to James!"

"He was being a prat that day!"

While Marlene and Alice continued to bicker and the Marauders begged James not to make them shave their heads, Lily just sat quietly eating her dinner, savoring the taste of food and the company of her friends. She felt happier than she had in a long time; she was even able to ignore the anxious feeling in her stomach that was caused by the thought of going home for the approaching holidays.


	22. Grand Revelations

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Harry Potter or Harry Potter related copyrights.**

The rest of November flew by. Sirius, Remus and Peter shaved their heads and Slytherin crushed Hufflepuff in Quidditch, as expected, so now whoever won the match between Gryffindor and Ravenclaw in early February won play Slytherin for the cup.

Lily and James' relationship blossomed though it was difficult for the busy couple to find time to spend together. If they hadn't had patrols together they might have never had any time to themselves. One Sunday James approached his studious girlfriend, hoping to spend a little bit of quality time with her.

"Hey Lily," he said as he sat down across from her at her table in the library.

"Hi James," said Lily as she briefly looked up from the book she was referencing in her essay.

"What's up?"

"Not much, I'm just working on that huge essay McGonagall assigned last Wednesday," said Lily.

"That one's a beast, but it's not due until Tuesday, why are you working on it now?"

"Because I don't have any time to do it tomorrow," said Lily, who was still working.

"That's kind of what I wanted to talk to you about; when are you free this week? I feel as if I've seen less of you now than before we were dating," whined James.

"That's just because you're looking to spend time with me now and you just accepted the time I had to spend with you before," explained Lily.

James nodded and said, "Well anyways, I wanted to take you out sometime this week; how about Monday night since you're doing you essay now?"

"I can't; I have to tutor some fifth years in Charms and then we have a Prefects meeting."

"Tuesday?"

"I'm tutoring some third and fourth years in Potions and then we have to patrol."

"Wednesday?"

"My last O.W.L.s meeting. They voted last week to kick me out because I violated one of the bylaws."

"What was that? Have any fun whatsoever?"

"Actually it was date a Marauder. Sandra really hates you guys because she asked out to Hogsmeade back in fourth year and you turned her down."

"I don't even remember that. Anyways, Thursday?"

Lily looked up at James briefly. "I'm free Thursday."

"Well great, oh wait; I have Quidditch practice on Thursday. How about Friday?"

"We have to patrol."

"We could patrol Hogsmeade and look for students out of bounds," suggested James.

"I don't think so," responded Lily.

"What about Saturday morning?"

"I'm helping out Professor Slughorn."

"What are you doing?"

"I do it every week; basically I make samples of all the Potions he needs for his classes for the week and in return he lets me do a bit of my own thing. It helps to review for N.E.W.T.s and I've invented a couple of cool Potions."

"And Saturday night we're patrolling again. How did we end up patrolling on Friday and Saturday nights?"

"No one else wanted to take them."

"I wonder why," muttered James testily. "Sunday morning? No wait, I have Quidditch practice then too. Next Sunday night?"

"That might work," said Lily.

"Next Sunday it is then," said James. "I have to go now because I promised that I would tutor some kids in Transfiguration. But I'll see you at dinner?"

"Sure," said Lily distractedly.

James rolled his eyes. "I'll come by and bring you to dinner because you won't remember to go eat."

Lily looked up and smiled at him. "You know me too well," she joked.

"See you later," he said as he got up from the table, kissed Lily on the cheek and went to another part of the library where some students were waiting for him.

Lily grinned widely for a few minutes, savoring the feeling of James' kiss, and then finally turned back to her essay, but even that couldn't erase the smile on her face.

"Look at how cute they are," Alice whispered to a Hufflepuff friend of hers. The two girls had been working at a table nearby and saw the whole thing.

The other girl sighed. "I wish I had a James like Lily does."

"Me too. He's just so good for her."

"She seems so much happier all the time now," said the other girl. "She always has a smile on her face; it makes her look so much prettier."

"She wears her hair down now sometimes," added Alice. "She always used to wear it in the same uptight bun everyday, because she was insecure about how she looked, but she told me that one day she and James were studying and he pulled the hair tie out of her hair and told her that he likes her hair down. So now, every once in a while she pauses in front of the mirror in the mornings and puts a headband in instead of putting it up. He has given her the kind of confidence no one has ever has."

The other girl sighed again. "That is so adorable!"

Alice grinned. She was so happy for Lily and grateful to James. She knew that Lily was in good hands.

-----

That Saturday morning James slept in and so woke up in an empty dormitory. After he showered and got dressed he pulled out the Marauder's map to see where his friends were. As he scanned the map, out of habit he also looked for Lily. But he was surprised to see that Professor Slughorn was in his classroom in the dungeons, but Lily was not. So James abandoned finding his friends and looked for Lily. He soon found her little dot not far from the dungeons, in the same classroom that he had followed her to weeks ago. That didn't overly concern him, but the fact that Severus Snape's dot was in the same room certainly did.

James grabbed his wand and the map, and sprinted out of the dormitory. Within minutes he was in the hallway where Lily was.

But before he could reach the door he was thrown open and Snape thundered out shouting, "Just stop! What's done is done and you can't change it!"

Then suddenly James and Severus abruptly came face to face. Neither moved or spoke until Lily burst out of the door behind Severus. As soon as she saw the two of them, she froze as well. Severus turned around when he heard her come up behind him and smirked.

"What's going on?" asked James, who looked very confused and more than just a bit anxious. His hand was firmly gripping his wand.

"Oh," said Severus smugly. "Do you mean to say that your dear Lily hasn't told you about us yet?"

James clenched his jaw and muttered, "What do you mean?"

Severus turned to face Lily who looked like a deer caught in the headlights. "Lily, I am so surprised. I thought that you actually somehow cared for Potter, and yet you're already lying to him. Tsk Tsk."

"Stop it Snape," said Lily angrily.

Snape continued as if Lily hadn't said anything. "And Dumbledore even said you could tell him; actually he told me that he advised you to tell him months ago."

"I said stop!" as Lily yelled this she thrust both of her hands, palms outward, toward Severus. He immediately went flying backwards and into James.

James groaned and shoved Severus off of him. Lily ran over to the two of them and tried to help Severus up, but he refused her hand.

"Severus, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to!" said Lily sincerely. "My temper just got the best of me."

"Just like my pride got the best of me two years ago, but you still haven't forgiven me for that," said Snape snidely as he dusted himself off.

"I've told you a hundred times," she said, the volume of her voice rising. "That it was not what you called me, but what led you to use that word…"

"I know!" snapped Severus. "I'll see you next week."

Lily watched Snape stalk down the hallway and then turned to James, who was leaning up against the wall, arms crossed across his chest.

Lily sighed and said softly, "Do you want to come for a walk with me?"

"I suppose," grunted James as he begrudgingly stepped away from the wall and fell into step with Lily.

The pair walked in silence through several hallways until James finally said, "So do you have an explanation or not, because the Marauders and I were going to set up a prank this afternoon."

"Well let me start out by saying that I had a good reason for lying to you about what I was doing today."

James laughed hollowly. "I can't wait to hear this one."

Lily wrung her hands nervously. Then she walked to the nearest classroom. She opened the door, and seeing that no one was inside, turned to James and said, "Can you come in here with me please? What I'm about to tell you is a really big secret."

James shrugged and walked in behind Lily. He hopped onto a dusty desk and looked at her expectantly as she put several charms on the room. Then Lily paced a bit in front of him and finally stopped in front of him.

"Okay," she said as she breathed deeply. "What I am about to tell you is a secret that rivals the one about Remus being a werewolf. Actually it might be bigger. If you tell people they could die."

James scoffed at this. "Don't you think you're being a bit overdramatic?"

"No," said Lily. "I am dead serious. So you have to swear to me that no matter what happens you will not tell a single soul what I am about to tell you, not even the other Marauders."

"What is it?" asked James, who was very curious.

"First you have to swear to me that you won't tell anyone; I would make you make an Unbreakable Vow, but that would require telling someone else so that they would be a Bonder," said Lily seriously.

"I swear," said James, who was looking shocked.

"Okay, so, as you know, there are three main types of people in the world, muggles, squibs and wizards."

"I don't understand where this is going," admitted James.

"Just listen, please," Lily implored him.

"Okay."

"So actually there's a fourth type. In English they are called Guardians. All you really need to know is that they are a type of wizard that has more magical power than the rest. Merlin was the first Guardian. He delved more deeply into magical theory than anyone else in his time. He discovered some things that, ummm… over the centuries, have been lost to the general wizarding world. Before he died, he called a counsel of wizards from all over the known world. While they were gathered together, sharing their ummm… knowledge, one of them was murdered and his secrets died with him.

"That kind of freaked them all out, so they decided to do something to make sure that their secrets survived. Through some really complicated, ancient, and borderline Dark Magic, they ahhh… immortalized their beings. So, in other words, once their bodies died, their spirits, with all of the knowledge they decided to pass on, went and found new bodies. Then when those people died, the spirits found new bodies, and so the cycle has continued for hundreds of years. With each person the base of knowledge grows."

Lily paused and looked at James, who was deep in thought.

After a moment's pause, he slowly said, "So let me get this straight; you're being possessed, right now, by a bunch of ancient dead guys?"

"Well yes and no," Lily replied. "I'm still me, but part of me is a whole bunch of people, and their personalities sometimes affect mine, but generally I'm just me, so I'm not _possessed_ per se."

"So when does it all happen? How do you know if you're a Guardian or not?"

"The very instant a Guardian is born the spirit infuses itself in them. I don't really know how you know if you're a Guardian or not; I didn't know I was one until Dumbledore told me right before Christmas holidays in our first year. I think you can tell if you know what to look for though. Before Dumbledore started to train me, every time I tried a simple spell it was much more intense than it should have been and sometimes weird things happened.

"Like, I don't know if you remember, but the first time I tried to levitate a feather in Charms class it hit the ceiling, and the first time I tried to transfigure a match into a needle I started a fire. Dumbledore told me it was because I had so much free and wild magic that had been building up for years; it was just dying to escape. I also used to do a whole bunch of accidental magic before I was accepted to Hogwarts."

"That's pretty normal for most wizards and witches," said James.

"But I could _float_," said Lily. "I used to jump off of swings and just float around for minutes at a time once I practiced a bit. It scared Petunia really badly; she used to go with me to the park when we were younger. Daisy thought it was pretty cool though; until she broke her arm trying to do it too. Anyways, that's how Snape and I first became friends. We lived in the same small city and he saw me floating around one time. Then he told me that I was a witch and he could do weird things too."

"What could he do?"

"He used to be able to manipulate fire, but I can't float anymore and he can't control fire," Lily added hurriedly when she saw the look of concern on James' face.

"Oh," said James, who was still shocked and a bit confused. "So what else is special about, uhh people like you?"

"We can't be killed by the killing curse," said Lily.

"That's ummm pretty helpful," said James, who was sounding as overwhelmed as he felt. "So what do you and… Snape, do every week?"

"Well, we've been doing this since first year. We used to meet more often, but now we don't have as much free time, so we only meet on Saturday mornings. Dumbledore taught us how to center our magic and hold onto it, or if need be release it. Like that storm, that was me releasing my magic when it became too much for me, and that time you followed me into that room? That was me releasing my magic really fast. It was because I had overslept that Saturday and hadn't had a chance to practice spells with Severus. We usually work on some complicated magic that requires a lot of energy; it's productive and allows us to keep our magic levels within our control," explained Lily.

"Oh," said James, drawing out the syllable.

Lily bit her bottom lip and then asked, "You can't tell anyone about this because according to Dumbledore, Voldemort knows about the Guardians."

"Three guesses who told him," muttered James.

"Severus isn't a bad person," said Lily quietly. "He's just chosen a bad path."

"Aren't you afraid that he'll hurt you or betray you or something?" asked James with concern.

"Yes," said Lily her voice breaking. "That's why Dumbledore has only been teaching us creative spells for the last three years. He's been afraid that Severus will use any destructive spells that he's taught for evil."

"So what kind of stuff have you learned?" asked James curiously. He also wanted to get Lily off a topic that was obviously very painful for her.

"How to throw off an imperious curse, occulmency, legilimency, advanced shielding and protective charms, stuff like that."

"Oh yeah, that's some easy stuff," said James sarcastically.

"So, what are you thinking right now?" asked Lily nervously.

James ran his hand through his messy black hair and said, "I dunno. This all seems so…"

"Freakish?" Lily supplied glumly.

"No," said James hurriedly. "Just a bit strange, I guess. I think I just need to think everything over."

"Yeah, yeah, I understand, totally. I'd be pretty shocked too. Just whatever you decide to do, you still can't tell anyone, ever," said Lily, once again stressing the urgency of the situation. "I trust you and Dumbledore trusts you, but I just want to make sure you understand how huge this is; the Guardians have remained, more or less, secret from the wizarding world since their beginning. It's the same situation why wizards hide the wizarding world from muggles; if people found out that some people have more power than others, they would want more power themselves and then it could get dangerous. In fact there are some people out there who hunt Guardians to try and get their secrets and power for themselves."

"I understand Lily, truly I do. You have my word; I won't ever tell anyone," he said as he took both of her hands in his and looked her directly in the eyes.

Lily let out a deep breath, "I know; it's just that I've never told anyone this before, not Benjy, Daisy, Alice, Marlene, Jess, **no one**."

"You can trust me," said James reassuringly.

Lily smiled and gently pulled her hands out of James'. "I'll let you have some time to mull this all over; come find me if you have any more questions."

"Okay."

Lily had left, but James didn't budge from his seat on the desk. It was a bit overwhelming to suddenly find out that your girlfriend shared her body with the combined spirit of several other wizards. It also gave James a sense of awe; he was in awe that _his_ girlfriend was so amazingly powerful and yet, she still wanted to be with **him**, a talented wizard but by no means as powerful as someone like her, or Snape he noted with disgust. Eventually James digested all of the information Lily had told him and was totally on board with the whole thing. So, he set out to find her and ease whatever fears she had about his reaction.

"Hey Lily," said James as he found her at lunch. "Do you want to come for a walk with me later?"

"Sure James," said Lily, not betraying any sort of emotion in her voice.

"See you then," said James as he went and sat down with the Marauders a few seats down.

After both had finished eating, they walked out of the Great Hall, hand-in-hand. They had been walking in silence for a few moments when James suddenly said, "I don't care about what you said ummm… earlier Lily. Just because I didn't know about it, didn't mean it wasn't true, so you're no different now than you were yesterday, right? It's kind of like Remus and his furry little problem."

"Right," said Lily simply.

"In fact, I think I kind of like it. Though, I think it gives you an unfair advantage on tests and stuff. The rest of us mortals don't have hundreds…"

"Shh!" said Lily as she put her hand over her boyfriend's mouth. "You never know who could be listening, and for your information, I have to study for those tests just like everyone else. _They_ don't help me one bit; that's not the kind of information that is passed on."

James gently removed Lily's hand from his mouth and she blushed deeply. "So," he said, smiling at Lily's slight embarrassment. "Who's in you?"

Lily tried to answer the question without giving away anything that could identify her as a Guardian. "Which wizards? Oh, umm, not a ton of people you would know I think. But have you heard of Morgan le Fay? She sneaked into the council of wizards and was almost thrown out because she was a woman, but she told them dark magical secrets that they didn't know, so they let her stay. She was very helpful in helping them make their immortality spell; she was quite involved with the dark arts that were necessary."

"I think I have heard of her," said James thoughtfully. "An evil wench as I recall, tried to kill that Arthur bloke a few times."

"She also ended up healing him in the end," Lily added.

"I still think she's evil; at least now I know where you get it from," he teased her.

"Yup, so when I try to kill you; you'll know why."

"Oh, so you think I'm like King Arthur, noble, chivalrous, handsome?" asked James with a grin.

"If you were Arthur, that would make you my half-brother," Lily informed him.

"Forget it then," said James hastily.

"That's what I thought," said Lily.

"You still think I'm handsome though, don't you?" asked James.

"Of course I do," Lily reassured him. "Not that your ego needs any more inflating."

"I think you owe me some inflating, you've deflated my ego enough," James pointed out.

"You needed it," Lily protested. "If I hadn't stepped in when I did, every time I did, then there wouldn't be room for me in this hallway because your ego would take up all of it."

"I think my ego was the perfect size thank you very much," said James.

"Definitely not," persisted Lily. "My ego, however, is just right."

"Actually, I think that your ego could use a boost," said James seriously. "You seem, uhhh, down on yourself a lot of the time."

Lily was quiet for a few moments. "I don't know what you're talking about," she said finally.

"Your silence says otherwise," James stated wisely. "Why don't you have a lot of self-esteem Lily?"

"I don't want to talk about it," said Lily.

"Come on Lily, you can tell me anything. You just told me your deepest secret; I think you can tell me this."

"Put the pieces together James; you have enough of them by now. I have to go; I'll see you later," she said quickly as she turned on her heel and hurried in the opposite direction.

-----

"I don't understand her," huffed James as he met up with his friends in their dormitory later that day.

"Who?" asked Peter absently as he looked up a spell for the prank they were planning.

"Lily of course," Sirius answered.

"Who else would he be talking about?" joked Remus.

"What is it that you don't understand now?" asked Sirius lightheartedly.

"Why doesn't she have much self-confidence?" asked James.

"I think Lily has a lot of self-confidence," said Peter. "Why wouldn't she? She's top of our class, Head Girl, pretty…"

"Yeah Prongs," agreed Remus. "I have always seen Lily as a confident person. She always seems to know that she can be the best and that gets her there."

"But she's not," said Sirius slowly. "Deep down I think she's really insecure."

"I agree, but I don't know why," said James.

"How do you figure she's insecure?" asked Peter. "That doesn't make any sense because she has nothing to be insecure about."

"So everyone thinks," mumbled Sirius.

"What do you know Padfoot?" James asked his best friend curiously.

"More than I want to," Sirius admitted. "When I was staying at her house this summer, she was miserable most of the time. Her mom made her do school work and practice ballroom dancing, go to parties, go on dates. She told me that the only way she could escape was by running. She got up at some ungodly hour and would run for as long as she could. And then when I read her diary; she wrote some really mean things about herself. She didn't think she was pretty enough, smart enough, thin enough, stuff like that."

"She and her older sister, Petunia, fight all the time. Petunia is jealous that Lily's a witch and she isn't and takes it out on Lily. And of course, Lily fights back," Remus said.

"She was tutoring me in Charms once and she told me that she had accidentally charmed her mom's hair green and it wouldn't come out. She must have been really angry to do something like that," said Peter thoughtfully.

"Marlene told me that her dad just lets it all happen; he just lets his wife run everything," said Remus.

"She doesn't have a happy home life, Prongs," said Sirius quietly. "And as I very well know, that doesn't do much for your self-esteem."

"Yeah," said James as he contemplated everything he knew and had been told. "But how do I fix it?"

Remus furrowed his brow and said, "I don't know if it's something than can be fixed, or something that you should even try to fix."

"Moony's right Prongs," sighed Sirius. "You can't just fix people."

"I can try," said James fiercely. "I'm going to go talk to Marlene or Alice."

After James left, Peter turned to his two friends and said, "He really does like her, doesn't he?"

"I'd have to say so," said Remus.

"It's bordering on obsessive, I'd say," said Sirius as he leaned back against his headboard.

"You're just jealous," Peter pointed out.

"I'm what?" asked Sirius as he sat up suddenly.

"Jealous," Peter repeated, though not as bravely. "Jealous, that he spends more time with Lily than he does with you and us."

"I'm not jealous of Lily!" protested Sirius.

"Sure you aren't," said Remus. "It's okay to admit it; we all miss him. He spends all his time playing Quidditch, hanging out with her, or thinking about her."

"It's not an even split either," Peter added. "I'd say twenty percent, thirty percent and fifty percent."

"Nah," said Remus dismissively. "Cause when he's playing Quidditch I guarantee he's thinking about her."

"Very true," said Peter nodding.

"Oh shut up," muttered Sirius as he jumped up and abruptly left the dormitory.

-----

"Lily," said Sirius as he approached her table at the library. "I think I'm jealous of you."

"Hello Sirius, nice to see you too," said Lily, who was just a little bit in shock.

"Peter said it an hour ago and it hasn't left my head since then; please tell me I'm not jealous," said Sirius desperately as he sat down across from Lily.

"You're not jealous," said Lily simply.

"That doesn't sound as convincing as I thought it would," said Sirius.

"Now Sirius, I know that I'm prettier than you, but that doesn't mean you have to be jealous," said Lily as if she was talking to a small child.

Sirius gasped, "You are not prettier than me!"

Lily laughed. "Did you just hear yourself?"

"Merlin woman you are evil!"

"So I've been told," said Lily flippantly.

"Peter and Remus think I'm jealous that James spends more time with you than he does getting landed in detention with me."

"And are you?"

"I don't know. I'm a guy; we don't do the whole 'feelings' thing," said Sirius as he folded his arms across his chest and balanced his chair on two feet.

"I see," said Lily pensively. "And how do you _feel_ about that?" she joked.

"This is no joking matter," said Sirius as he smiled. "I need help here. I'm not supposed to be jealous of my best mate's girlfriend; if anything I'm supposed to be jealous of my best mate _because_ of his girlfriend."

"That is how it generally goes," admitted Lily.

"Help me Lily, please," said Sirius.

"How am I supposed to help you?"

"I don't know."

Lily bit her bottom lip gently and stared at the ceiling for a moment. Then she looked back at Sirius and said, "Do you think James spends too much time with me?"

"No," said Sirius instantly. "He likes spending time with you and he always has a smile on his face afterwards. Even when you two used to fight, he got some sick pleasure from it."

"Do you wish he spent more time with you and the other Marauders?"

Sirius thought for a moment and said, "Yes. It's like we're last on his list of things to do. It goes Lily, Head Boy stuff, Quidditch stuff, think about Lily, eat, think about Quidditch strategies, bathe, go to class, sleep, think about Lily, do homework, think about Lily, think about studying for N.E.W.T.'s, win Lily over, oh wait he finally crossed that one off, then finally it's plan pranks and spend time with the Maruaders. The Marauders used to come way before 'go to class' and certainly before homework!"

Lily missed most of the rest of the list after her name because she was trying to hold in laughter. When he finally finished however, she no longer tried to hold back the giggles.

"What?" asked the very lost Sirius Black.

"I'm glad I'm the only girl on his 'To-do' list," she said with a huge grin.

Sirius shook his head and laughed as well. "That sounds like something I would say; I would have never expected it from you Miss Evans."

"There's more to me than meets the eye," said Lily.

"And believe me," said Sirius. "There is **plenty** that meets the eye."

Lily laughed. "I'm glad we're friends."

"Me too," said Sirius.

"So are you jealous?" asked Lily returning to the main issue.

"I guess I am," said Sirius.

"Well, I'll talk to James and try to convince him to cut out one of the 'think about Lily' times on his agenda, maybe even the 'go to class' one, but I refuse to ask him to cut out bathing."

Sirius chuckled. "Thanks Lily. This helped."

"Who knew? You actually do have feelings," said Lily. "You just have to dig them out of the layers of testosterone and muscle."

"I'll see you around," said Sirius as he left the library still laughing.

-----

"Hey Marlene, Alice," said James as he conveniently found them without Lily in the common room later that day.

"Lily's in the library doing some paper for one of her million N.E.W.T. classes," said Marlene before James could get out another word.

"Okay, but that's not what I wanted to ask you guys about. Ummm… I wanted to know… ahhh…" stammered James.

"Is it about Lily?" asked Alice.

"Yes," said James.

"What do you want to know about Lily?" asked Marlene curiously.

"Well, I've noticed that she, errr, has ummm confidence issues…" James trailed off.

"And?" prompted Alice.

"What do you guys think I should do to help?" he asked, avoiding their gazes.

The fact that Alice and Marlene burst out laughing did nothing to ease the awkwardness that James felt.

"Wow Potter, you are a bit thick aren't you?" said Marlene as he laughter subsided.

"She didn't mean it like that," said Alice. "We just think it's funny that you don't think that you've helped her already."

"Believe us, it's a huge difference between now and the start of term," said Marlene.

"Or the middle to end of sixth year," said Alice.

"Since her dad got remarried really."

"Yeah I'd have to say that was the point it all went downhill," Alice agreed with Marlene.

"Anyways," said Marlene, turning the conversation towards James once again. "Just keep doing whatever it is that you've been doing. She had been needing a person like you in her life for a long time. We, as her best friends, can only do so much."

"We're just glad that you two finally resolved your problems."

"Well I'm glad that we've had this little chat," said James happily.

As he got up to leave, Marlene said, "But remember Potter…"

"Hurt her and we'll kill you," threatened the normally passive peacemaking Alice.

"Really, we will and we'll enjoy it," said Marly with an eerie grin on her face.

The pair cackled as James raced away.


	23. A Blizzard and a Nightmare

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Harry Potter or Harry Potter related copyrights.**

A few days after Lily's revelation to James, the Marauders, Lily, Marlene and Alice were all sitting at breakfast together when Lily received on owl. The fact that Lily was receiving mail was not the odd part; it was the fact that the letter was carried by one of the Potter family's owls that made the event curious.

"Hey James, isn't that one of your owls?" Peter interrupted James from the argument about Quidditch he and Sirius were having.

James looked up and sure enough, right next to him, in front of his girlfriend was his mother's owl, Serendipity.

"Hmm," said James. "That owl's getting old…"

He went to reach to get the letter from Lily's hand but she snatched it out of his grasp.

"The letter is addressed to me," she said with a smirk.

"Really?" asked James gulping. He was very afraid of what that letter might contain. He tried to think about when the last time he had written to his mother was. Sadly, it had been a few weeks. James wouldn't put it past her to get back at him by mailing embarrassing pictures of him to his girlfriend. "How about I just open it first. You know, check for letter curses."

"But it's from your mom," said Lily as she held the letter further away from him.

"You never know with my mum," said James as he still tried to get the envelope. "Where do you think I got my pranking abilities from?"

"What do you think is going to be in this letter?" asked Marlene, who had watched the whole scene.

"Well there can't be anything good," said James as he finally gave up.

"Do you think she included that picture of you in the bathtub Prongs?" teased Sirius.

James turned red, groaned, and buried his head in his arms.

Lily laughed quietly and broke the seal of the envelope. "You can all go back to your breakfasts now," she said as they all watched her attentively.

Her friends looked away and pretended to be interested in other things, but really they all wanted to know what was in the letter. Finally Lily finished it.

"So what does it say?" they all asked in unison.

"Nothing all that interesting," said Lily, purposefully stalling to annoy her friends.

"Lily, tell us!" said Marlene.

"Please!" begged Alice.

"Yeah, please," repeated Sirius.

"Mrs. Potter just wanted me to know that, just in case James 'forgot' to ask me, which he did, I am invited to her annual Christmas Eve ball," said Lily as she folded the letter back up and returned to eating her breakfast.

James let out a deep breath in relief. "Oh is that all? Thank Merlin."

Once the others had returned to their own business, Lily turned to James and asked him softly, "Do you not want me to go? Is that why you didn't ask me?"

"Of course not," said James sincerely. "It's just that I didn't think you'd want to go. I figured that you had enough of balls and parties at home and didn't need another to add to the list."

Lily looked up at him with her big green eyes and said, "I wouldn't mind it if I was there with you."

James looked at Lily for a long moment and then slowly he lowered his lips to hers. It was a short and sweet kiss, and left both wanting more. Unfortunately, it was time to go to class. Begrudgingly, the couple got up and headed out, but for the rest of the day they exchanged secret smiles with each other that left Sirius with the desire to vomit.

-----

As always, the weeks before Christmas were filled with exams, essays, the teachers cramming information into their students' heads at the last minute and of course shopping for presents. Yet, despite all of the activity, the days dragged by so slowly that everyone was convinced they would go mad. However, finally most of the students packed their things, boarded the Hogwarts Express and arrived in London.

"So I'll see you on Tuesday, around three?" said James as he and Lily were parting at Kings' Cross.

"Yes, after I meet your mother in London at ten because she insists on getting me a dress for the ball," said Lily.

"Please, please don't believe anything she says about me unless it's complimentary," said James, reiterating the statement for the hundredth time since he found out about the outing between his mother and girlfriend.

"Don't worry James," Lily reassured him, more so by the kiss afterwards than by her statement. "Now I have to go; my sister Daisy is waiting for me on the other side of the barrier. Do you want to come and meet her?"

"I actually already met her," said James as he ran a hand through his hair. "She yelled at me and told me never to go near you again."

"She told me that, and she wants to give you a second chance," said Lily as she grabbed his hand and started pulling him towards the barrier.

"Daisy James, James Daisy," Lily introduced the pair after she had hugged her sister.

"Hello James," said Daisy as she gave him a quick hug.

"Ummm, hi," said James who was a bit unnerved by the unexpected hug.

"So tell me why I should cover for my sister over the next two weeks so she can spend time with you," said Daisy bluntly.

"Uhh… cause you're a good person?"

"Be nice Daisy," Lily reprimanded her sister.

"This is nice," protested Daisy. "Well nicer than I have ever been to any of your other boyfriends."

"Dates, not boyfriends," Lily reminded her quietly.

"Right, anyways, it's been lovely James, but I must drag my sister away because we have only a few hours before we are supposed to arrive home. Luckily Lily can apparate now, so we can do whatever we want until five seconds before we said we would be home," said Daisy with a smile.

"Okay, well I'll see you later," said James as he gave Lily a quick kiss before heading back to Platform 9 ¾ to meet up with his parents and Sirius.

"You really do like him, don't you," said Daisy to her older sister as the two of them headed into London for some shopping.

"Yes, I really do. I'm so glad that I decided to just ignore my better judgment and say yes to him," said Lily grinning.

"Well in that case, I guess I have no choice but to approve of him," said Daisy cheekily.

"Like you have the power to forbid me to go out with him," said Lily sarcastically. "But anyways, I'm glad that you like him; that means a lot to me."

"He's a lot better than that mean jerk Richard."

"Agreed," said Lily. "Now come on. Clarice sent me my allowance and I intend to spend it on you for your birthday last month."

"Now that's what I'm talking about!" squealed the fourteen year old.

-----

"Mrs. Potter, it's so gorgeous! Thank you so much," gushed Lily as she spun around in front of the mirrors in an upscale dressmaking shop in Diagon Alley.

"It would be a crime if you didn't wear that dress," Mrs. Potter said in response. "Besides I'm happy to do this. I can't do enough to thank you for what you've done for my boys."

"They're all as good to me as I am to them," Lily assured Mrs. Potter.

"I'm glad that they've done at least something right; the box of letters that I have from Professor McGonagall tell me otherwise."

"They really are wonderful," said Lily. "I don't know what I would do without them, especially James."

Mrs. Potter grinned and Lily noticed that it was the same smile that James wore when he was truly happy.

"He really is a good boy, just I think that his dad works too much and always has. Don't tell him that I told you, but he's always taken it hard that his dad wasn't there much for his childhood especially since his dad was and has always been his idol. I think that's why he likes to prank people and get in trouble; he's just trying to get attention, first his father's and then yours. I'm sure if James were here he'd be mortified that I told you that. He likes to think that he's invulnerable," Marilyn told Lily.

"I know, but I've also seen the vulnerable side of him. It was the vulnerable side that got me in the end," said Lily.

"Yes I know exactly what you mean. I first realized that I was in love with James' father when he showed his softer side. It was a rather bittersweet moment because my father had just died, but he was very sweet when he was comforting me," said Mrs. Potter as she reminisced.

"Mr. Potter is a very good auror," said Lily. "He was very nice to me when he rescued me."

"He had very positive things to say about you when he finally got home as well."

"That's always lovely to hear," said Lily smiling.

"Well, why don't you change back into your regular clothes and we'll go hunt for some shoes to go with that dazzling dress while I tell you embarrassing stories about my son of course," said Mrs. Potter with a wink.

"Oh you don't have to take me shoes shopping," protested Lily. "The dress is more than enough and besides I have a lot of shoes at home."

"Nonsense! I have always wanted a daughter and now that my bone-headed son has finally gotten himself a real girlfriend that he'll let me meet, I intend to milk the situation for everything it's worth! Please Lily, letting me buy you shoes would really make me very happy," she said with a puppy pout similar to Sirius'.

"Fine," sighed Lily as Marilyn grinned. "But I draw the line at shoes; no jewelry or anything like that."

"Of course not, I was hoping you would borrow some of the Potter family jewels for the ball because I have just the necklace in mind for that dress and some earrings to match. I'm sure that we can dig up a suitable bracelet as well," said Mrs. Potter as she circled Lily again with a critical eye.

Lily smiled, "If you insist."

"And I do," said Mrs. Potter firmly. "Now go change."

Lily could tell that this was the start of a beautiful relationship.

-----

That evening was one of the first times Lily actually had fun while getting ready for a ball. Instead of a maid doing whatever Clarice instructed her, Mrs. Potter helped Lily do her make-up and hair however she wanted.

"My goodness Lily," said Marilyn as she dabbed the corners of her eyes after Lily told her of one of James' more embarrassing stunts to get her to date him. "I haven't laughed this hard since I saw Sirius, Peter, and Remus come off the Hogwarts Express bald."

"You should have seen them when it was time for James to charm their hair off. They were all on their knees begging him to reconsider. Sirius looked as if he was about to be executed. Remus was trying to reason with him and Peter was just pleading and kissing up. Nothing worked however, in the end James charmed it all off and the three of them pounced on him as soon as he was done. I just sat at a safe distance and laughed," Lily told her, laughing as she remembered the chaotic scene in the boys' dormitory.

"What did the rest of the school say once they saw them?" asked Mrs. Potter as she put the finishing touches on Lily's hair style, an elegant up-do of curls.

"I made sure that I got to breakfast before them the next morning so I could take in the full effect of their entrance. It was dead silence in the Great Hall as they entered. Then there was laughter, and a few tears as the girls mourned the loss of Sirius' hair," Lily recalled.

"He's always been a bit… passionate about his hair," Marilyn informed Lily. "And I'm told it is quite a hit with the ladies."

Lily laughed as Mrs. Potter grinned and rolled her eyes.

"Anyways, I don't know much about you my dear. If I had had a daughter, I'm sure that I would have all the information I could want. However, I've been burdened by four sons, none of whom are very forth-coming about anything that really matters. So, why don't you start by telling me about your home life? Christopher told me that you have three sisters, but that's all I know," Marilyn said as she applied her own make-up.

"Well, my sisters are named Violet, Daisy and Petunia. Violet was the oldest; she was eleven years older than me. She taught five-year olds, and when I was eleven she married her childhood best friend Benjy, who is also the older brother of one of my best friends named Jess. She died because of injuries from a car crash when I was twelve," stated Lily factually.

"Oh my," breathed Mrs. Potter. "That's terrible; I'm so sorry dear. I bet you miss her horribly."

"I do," admitted Lily. "She was a great older sister and she was really happy for me when I found out I was a witch. So was my younger sister Daisy; she was only eight when I got my letter. She thought it was the coolest thing. My other older sister Petunia was not so thrilled. She thinks it's freakish and I think that she's secretly jealous."

"Who wouldn't be?" interrupted Mrs. Potter with a soft smile.

"Anyways, Petunia is five years older than me and currently trying to find Mr. Right so she can move out of the house and get away from my critical step-mother."

At Mrs. Potter's questioning look Lily explained, "My mother was killed in the same car accident as my sister Violet. A few years ago my father remarried because he was concerned about his girls growing up without a mother. Personally, I think we were doing just fine, but he didn't seem to think so. I don't know how he figured out that we needed a mom because he was never home," at this point Lily was starting to get teary-eyed. "He was always at work. He never wanted to talk about my mom or Violet; he pretended that they had never existed. He deserted us when we most needed him, especially Daisy. She was still recovering from a rough fight with cancer at the time.

"Then when I came home from my third year at school, I had a new house, new mom and a new life waiting for me. He never even asked me what I wanted," said Lily as tears leaked out of her eyes. Quickly she brushed them away and tried to comport herself by standing up and walking over to the full length mirror to scrutinize her dress. She hated showing emotion because it caused her to lose control and that scared her.

Immediately Mrs. Potter abandoned her eyeliner and wrapped Lily in a tight motherly hug. Lily hadn't felt so comforted while being hugged since her mother had welcomed her home from school after her first year. Lily closed her eyes and melted into the hug.

"You are so strong Lily, so strong," whispered Mrs. Potter over and over again as she gently rubbed circles on Lily's back.

"Thank you Mrs. Potter," said Lily as she finally pulled away and wiped her eyes. "I really needed that."

"Oh my dear, I have no idea that you've been through so much. If I had known I wouldn't have been so nosy," said Marilyn apologetically.

"I should be the one apologizing; I can't believe that I just broke down like that. It isn't like me at all. And I probably smudged my make-up, ruined my hair, and got tears and snot all over your shoulder," rambled Lily.

Mrs. Potter couldn't help but try to reassure Lily by saying, "All fixable with a wave of a wand."

Mrs. Potter waved her wand and her dress became completely spotless and wrinkle-free again. With another incantation, Lily's splotchy face and slightly mussed hair returned to pristine condition.

"No harm done," Marilyn assured the young woman. "Now dear, if you ever need someone to talk to about anything, remember that I'm always _dying_ to talk to another female."

Lily nodded.

"Now come on dear," said Marilyn as she checked the clock in the room she had officially designated as Lily's. "It's time that we meet the boys and get in line to greet the guests."

Marilyn gathered her skirts in her hands and gracefully swept out of the room. Lily took a deep breath and followed in the same fashion.

Lily met up with Marilyn at the top of the grand staircase that led to the foyer where she could see Remus, Sirius, Peter, Mr. Potter and James milling about, talking and laughing.

"Now Lily, you look absolutely stunning; so gorgeous in fact that you deserve one of those dramatic entrances in the romance novels where the young lady walks down a grand staircase and steals the breath away from the guy waiting at the bottom," said Mrs. Potter with a giddy smile. "Now I know that this staircase just so happens to be absolutely perfect for said entrance. Now make sure that you walk very slowly and trail your fingertips lightly on the banister. You don't know how long I have waited to share this with someone!"

Lily couldn't help but smile as she looked at Mrs. Potter ecstatic face.

"You are going to drive my son crazy!" Marilyn squealed. "Oh I'm so excited! If I had figured out a way to be inconspicuous about it, I would have brought a camera to take a picture of his face. Alright, I can't wait another moment! So I'm going to go down now and count to one hundred and then start your descent. See you at the bottom!"

Marilyn Potter, a woman who was nearing her sixties, certainly did not look old as she walked down that staircase. She had a youthfulness about her that her gray hair could not offset. She also happened to look splendid in her very elegant black velvet dress. She managed to look tasteful and beautiful because the dress hugged the curves that even after all the years, she still managed to possess, yet it didn't look tight. Her husband of thirty-two years couldn't keep his eyes off of her.

James grinned as he watched his dad fall silent once his mother came into view. He wondered if he would ever find someone that could leave him dumbstruck after thirty years. And then he saw her.

As Christopher kissed his wife's hand and she blushed and Sirius, Remus and Peter joked around about their bald heads, Lily approached the top of the staircase and started to walk down.

As she took slow, deliberate steps, she felt like a princess. For once she adored the dress she was in. It was a dark emerald satin dress with a halter top that showed just enough cleavage to be attractive and not distasteful. The top was fitted with a wide festive ribbon around her waist that accentuated her thin figure. The full skirt fell to the floor.

Around her neck Lily wore a delicate silver necklace with a pendant made up of several diamonds assembled in a vertical fashion. Her diamond earrings and bracelet matched the stunning necklace.

As his mother had predicted, James lost his breath at the sight of his beautiful girlfriend. The gown suited her much better than the baggy school uniforms she wore during the week, the not entirely attractive clothes she wore on the weekends and even the dress she wore at her birthday party. He have never even fathomed that she, or anyone else for that matter, could look this beautiful. He was absolutely smitten.

The other three quarters of the Marauders were quite impressed as well. Lily blushed as Remus whistled, Peter catcalled and Sirius wondered out loud, "Damn. Should I kill James now or after dinner yet before dancing?"

"You look gorgeous," James said as he took her hand at the bottom of the staircase.

"You look nice as well. Though you couldn't have brushed your hair?" she joked.

"Believe me, this is brushed," he said.

"I like it messy anyways," she admitted to him. "Makes it look like you just got off a broomstick."

James chuckled at both Lily's comment and the sly expression on her face.

"Marvelous," said Mrs. Potter as she approached the couple. "Even better that I had hoped. But I just noticed that you're missing something. Luckily Jilly fetched it for me."

In Mrs. Potter's hands was a delicate silver tiara. Its diamonds glittered in the light as Marilyn carefully secured it to Lily's hair before she could protest.

"Now you're perfect," she pronounced.

As she turned away from the pair and instructed her foster sons to enter the ballroom and help themselves to some snacks, James stooped and whispered in Lily's ear, "I thought you were perfect even before the tiara."

As they queued up next to Mr. and Mrs. Potter, James delighted in the fact that he could make Lily blush and smile so widely.

For the next hour James greeted the numerous guests his mother had invited and was pleased to introduce them to his brilliant girlfriend.

-----

"Ah James my boy!" greeted the outspoken German Minister as he shook James' hand. "So nice to see you again! And who is this lovely lady you've bribed to join you?" he asked as he kissed Lily's hand.

"Good evening Minister, I am pleased to introduce you to my girlfriend Lily Evans; Lily this is the German Minister Berend Hoffman," said James.

"It's a pleasure to meet you," said Lily for the hundredth time that night.

"The pleasure is entirely mine," said the bold man. "Hold onto this one Potter; she looks like a keeper to me."

Fortunately it was time for the Minister to move on.

-----

"Lily!" squealed Marlene. The McKinnon's had attended the Potter's Christmas Eve Ball since its inception in the Middle Ages. "As usual I look like an old hag next to you," she praised after the girls had lightly hugged.

"You look wonderful Marlene," laughed Lily. "As always."

"If you say so; I can always tell how good I look by how many old men hit in me. I'll tell you how I rank by the end of the night," grinned Marlene. "I'm so glad that you're here; now James will be much to preoccupied looking at you to turn my hair green, or tell Minister Hoffman that I would love to hear about Germany's economy.

"I am right here Marlene," James pointed out.

"Well spotted," said Marlene with a roll of her eyes. "I'll see you both later."

-----

"Good evening Potter," said Lucius Malfoy as he approached James and Lily with Narcissa Black on his arm.

"Malfoy, Black," said James warily as he inclined his head slightly at the pair. "This is my girlfriend…"

"We've met," said Lucius icily as he looked Lily directly in the eye while bringing her hand to his lips.

Lily was left speechless by the malice which Lucius looked at her.

"Cat got your tongue?" he asked snidely as Narcissa giggled subtly. "Last time our paths crossed you were much more… articulate."

"Have a nice evening," said James firmly as Lily still struggled to find a response.

"I'm sure I will," said the blonde vaguely as he walked into the ballroom.

"You okay?" asked James quickly before the next couple approached.

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine, a bit startled but nothing to be concerned about," Lily assured him.

"You're sure?"

"Positive," said Lily out of the corner of her mouth as the next couple approached.

-----

Much to Lily and James' relief, after all of the guests had arrived they finally got to sit down for dinner. Behind his parents, James led Lily into a room that she couldn't help but gasp at as soon as she entered. The walls were a deep red with swirls of gold that reflected the light from the four enormous gold chandeliers that hung from the ceiling which was decorated with pictures of cherubs and a feast of the gods. Everywhere hung gold ribbons, evergreen branches, and mistletoe. Also, a light enchanted snow was falling gently from the ceiling but disappearing just above the heads of the guests.

James grinned at the look of awe on Lily's face.

"Like it?" he whispered.

"It's amazing," Lily whispered back as James led her to her seat next to Mrs. Potter who was sitting directly to Mr. Potter's left at the head of the table.

As the heir, James sat at Mr. Potter's right. Somewhere around the middle of the table, the three Marauders sat.

As dinner progressed, James was relived to see that Lily acted as if she had always been a member of the elite wizarding society. She politely made conversation with anyone that spoke to her and had impeccable manners. She always used the right fork and didn't slurp her soup. It didn't even faze her when people surreptitiously stared at her, as if they were waiting for the only muggleborn in the room to mess up.

After a delicious seven course meal, the guests all returned to the ballroom.

"Lily," said James as they entered the ballroom, which was just as spectacular as the dining room. "I may have failed to mention that we have to open the dancing with my parents. You know how to waltz right?"

"Of course," said Lily. "I've taken dancing lessons for the past couple of years. Lead the way."

As they walked onto the center of the ballroom floor, James thanked Merlin that Lily was well-trained in such things as ballroom dancing and greeting guests.

The music started up and James took Lily's hand and waist as his father did the same thing to his mother. Both couples twirled expertly across the floor, and not even Narcissa Black could find some aspect of Lily's dancing to criticize.

"You are a wonderful dancer," James said to Lily she expertly changed steps once the song changed.

"I have hours upon hours of brutal torture to thank for it," she replied.

"It paid off," said James simply as he spun her out and then expertly pulled her back.

"You're not so bad yourself," she said as he continued to swirl and twirl her.

"You have my mother to thank for that. She made me start learning after my eleventh birthday, when I was first allowed to come to these balls. This however, is the first time I've ever had such a lovely partner," he complimented her.

Hours later found Lily chatting excitedly with Marlene, and James talking with the Marauders.

"Merlin, if I had realized that Lily was that hot, I would have gone after her years ago. Loyalty is the only thing holding me back from stealing her from you now," joked Sirius.

"Same here," said Remus. "She actually spoke to me civilly years ago. I could have had her in an instant. Damn loyalty; you would think I'm a Hufflepuff."

"Lucky me that I claimed her first," bragged James.

"And your mother seems to really like her too," said Peter. "That's helpful."

"It is indeed. Though I'm afraid that they've been conspiring against me all day," said James.

"Actually, they've been swapping embarrassing stories about the four of us," Sirius told his friends. "I just happened to be walking by 'Lily's room' and happened to overhear their conversation."

"What stories?" asked Peter curiously.

"Well there was one about you sleepwalking into the kitchen, something about that girl assaulting Remus at Lily's birthday party, nothing about me because, let's face it I'm perfect, and a bunch of stuff about James. How he nearly wet himself the first time he rode a broom, from excitement or terror it still hasn't been decided; that time he nearly poked his eye out with his own wand and my personal favorite, the story about James walking in on some guests of this very ball in a very compromising situation when he was four and the interesting questions he asked afterwards," said Sirius as he struggled to continue without laughing.

James groaned as his ears turned red from embarrassment. "I knew letting them alone together was a bad idea."

Sirius and the others were still laughing at James' expense a full minute later.

-----

Finally it was time for the guests to leave. Many planned to simply apparate, but it was discovered that there was a raging blizzard outside, so most decided to floo home instead because there was double the chance of splinching during a bad storm.

"Lily," said Mrs. Potter as the young woman came to the foyer in her cloak. "You can't possibly think of apparating home in such weather. It's hard enough to apparate after being on you feet and looking pretty all night. Is your house connected to the floo network?"

"No, my step-mother forbid it," said Lily.

"Then you'll just have to stay the night," announced Mrs. Potter. "I'll have one of the house elves bring you some pajamas and toiletries. I won't take no for an answer."

"Thank you very much," said Lily.

"It is no trouble at all my dear," Marilyn assured her. "I'm sure that the storm will be over by morning and you can apparate home then to spend Christmas with your family."

"Hey Lily," said James as he found her as she was walking back to her room. "Did you have a good time tonight?"

"I had a great time. It was one of the first balls that I've actually enjoyed."

"Would you look at that," said James as he looked upwards. "Mistletoe. It must have wandered up here from the ballroom. What ever will we do now?"

Lily laughed softly and smiled. "I have no idea; perhaps you should enlighten me."

"As the lady wishes," said James as he pressed Lily up against the nearest wall and captured her lips swiftly and skillfully.

Within moments the kiss became much more passionate as James' tongue gained entry into Lily's mouth. He shivered as she played with the hairs on the back of his neck. She groaned softly as his tongue explored her mouth.

This was how Christopher found his one and only son.

"Well at least you waited until you were out of the sight of the guests," he remarked as he loosened his bowtie.

James and Lily sprang apart instantly. They both started blushing and James started to try and mumble some excuse about mistletoe or other.

Christopher rolled his eyes and said, "Just remember the house rules James. Good night to you both and just so you know James, your mother is right behind me."

Mr. Potter chuckled as he continued down the hall to his own bedroom at the end.

"Did you see your face?" asked Lily jokingly. "It looked as if you had been caught stealing the last cookie from the cookie jar."

"You didn't look any less surprised or embarrassed," James shot back. "I've never been caught snogging by my dad before. Well, I've never brought a girl home before, so that's pretty logical."

"I've been caught by my parents loads of times," Lily told him. "Neither of them really care. So anyways, what kind of house rules are we dealing with here?" she asked impishly.

James ran his hand through his hair as he said, "My dad was painfully specific; it was really all very traumatizing. Mostly it involves staying in a vertical position and sleeping in separate bedrooms."

"I can work with that," said Lily as she walked into her bedroom and called over her shoulder. "Do you want to stay out there and get caught by your mother?"

James followed Lily into her room and closed the door, but they both obeyed the house rules, as much as their hormones told them not to.

Once James got back to his room after a thoroughly good snog with his girlfriend, he found his best mates all waiting for him.

"We were wondering if you were ever going to show up," remarked Peter as James entered.

"I take it that Lily's staying the night then?" asked Remus with a grin as he surveyed his friend's messier-than-usual hair, untucked shirt and undone bowtie and top buttons.

James grinned roguishly in response. The guys catcalled and cheered.

-----

Hours later James awoke thirsty and headed down to the kitchens for a drink of water. On his way back to his bedroom, he passed Lily's room and was disturbed to hear her sobbing. Abandoning his previous path, James quietly opened the door and walked into Lily's bedroom. He quickly walked over to Lily's side and shook her gently.

"Lily," he whispered. "Wake up; it's just a nightmare."

When Lily did wake up, she looked disoriented for a minute but then recognized her boyfriend. She sat up quickly and hugged him.

"It was awful," she whispered as tears continued to run down her face. "The worst nightmare I've ever had. I was back in Malfoy's house, but this time the aurors didn't show up."

After she said this, James' imagination ran away with him as he tried to comfort Lily. He didn't even want to know what she had dreamed that Malfoy had done to her.

"Please don't leave me," she said brokenly. She had stopped crying a long time ago and James made a move to leave. "I don't want the nightmare to come back."

"Okay," James said to her. "I'll stay until you fall asleep."

"Alright," she said as she fell back onto the pillows. "You being over there doesn't help me," Lily said when James continued sitting by her side. "It's not breaking the rules if we don't do anything. Please James, I need you."

Those three words completely crumbled James' willingness to actually follow rules. She sounded so vulnerable and scared; James couldn't help it but crawl into bed next to her and hug her tightly.

"Thank you James," Lily whispered.

"You're welcome Lily," said James sleepily as he tried not to let his thoughts wander as Lily's smooth legs rubbed against his or her hair tickled his bare chest.

Soon, the Head Boy and Girl were fast asleep with no knowledge of what the next day would hold.


	24. An Interesting Way to Wake Up

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Harry Potter or Harry Potter related copyrights.**

"Prongs isn't in his bedroom," Sirius told Peter and Remus early Christmas morning. Christmas was the only day that he ever got up early and once he was up, he made it his job to wake everyone else up, including Mr. and Mrs. Potter.

"Really?" asked Remus. "He was there early this morning when we left him."

"That dog," muttered Sirius with a grin.

"Do you think…?" asked Peter.

"I guess so…" said Remus.

"We had better get him up before his parents find him," said Sirius. "Come on lads; let's just hope we aren't scarred for life."

Remus shook his head but followed Peter and Sirius anyways after checking that the Potter parents hadn't left their bedroom yet, even though they had been awakened by Sirius already.

Sirius cautiously opened the door to Lily's room and poked his head in. Peter opened the door wider so he and Remus could get a look as well.

"Well doesn't that just make you want to vomit," remarked Sirius as he looked at James and Lily.

"What did you do to poor Lily?" came the sleepy voice of Christopher, causing all three boys to jump.

"Uh! Nothing! Nothing to see here! Let's go open presents!" shouted Sirius, trying to lead Mr. Potter away.

Unfortunately, Mr. Potter had already seen everything he needed to see. "James Christopher Potter!" he thundered, waking Lily and James up and putting them both in a panic.

"Uh oh," James whispered to Lily before he quickly sprang out of bed.

"You come with me," said Mr. Potter to his son sternly.

"Lily, I think it's time you went home. I'm sure your family is wondering where you are," Mr. Potter added as Lily crawled out of bed.

As James passed his friends, not one of them smiled or laughed; this only made James feel worse although he knew that he hadn't done anything wrong.

After James and his dad and left, Lily looked to the guys who were still standing there.

"We didn't do anything," she said quietly.

No one said anything.

"I'm just going to go then," she said as she grabbed the clothes she had worn the day before and went to change in the bathroom.

"You think she's telling the truth?" asked Sirius quietly.

"Why would she lie to us? She couldn't gain anything from it," Remus reasoned.

"They both still had their clothes on too," said Peter.

"Let's just see what Lily says about it; maybe she has an explanation," said Remus.

"Merlin, I haven't seen Mr. Potter that angry since he found out about what happened at the end of sixth year. He's pretty scary," said Sirius.

"I wouldn't want to be a Death Eater up against him," said Peter shivering.

"I wouldn't want to be James right now either," said Remus.

"I wouldn't want to be Prongs ever," joked Sirius loudly. "I am much better looking than him."

"Than explain to me why he has a girlfriend and you don't," challenged Remus.

"Because… I am simply too attractive for girls to handle!" pronounced Sirius. "I suppose I'll just tone it down a bit from now on."

"Oh because dating a bald guy is every girl's dream," said Remus sarcastically as he rubbed Sirius' shiny head.

"I think we're starting a new trend," said Sirius confidently. "You'll see. Once we get back to Hogwarts, all the guys will be bald. Then once our hair grows back we'll laugh at all of them because they're bald and ugly. And we'll make off with their girlfriends who want guys with hair."

Peter and Remus just shook their heads at Sirius' twisted logic.

Just then Lily emerged from the bathroom that adjoined her bedroom. She waved her wand to make the bed and then laid the neatly folded pile of borrowed pajamas on top of the coverlet.

"Well, I guess I'll see you guys in a couple of weeks then. Happy Christmas," said Lily as she gathered her cloak and purse. "Say good-bye to James for me, please. Tell him that I just didn't want to make things worse so I left."

"I am not saying good-bye to James like you would. He's one of my best mates and all, but I just don't swing that way," Sirius quipped.

Lily smiled faintly and gave each of the guys a hug. "Bye."

"Wait Lily, can we have your side of the story before you go?" asked Remus suddenly, remembering his earlier plan.

"I guess," said Lily shrugging. "I was having a nightmare and I guess James happened to be walking by and heard me yelling, so he came in and woke me up. I was still terrified from my nightmare and so I asked him to stay with me. He was planning on leaving after I had fallen asleep, but I guess he fell asleep too. So it was entirely my fault and you can tell Mr. Potter that if you get a chance."

"What were you dreaming about Lily?" asked Sirius seriously.

"What would have happened to me at Malfoy Manor if I hadn't been rescued," Lily said dully. "I guess seeing Lucius Malfoy last night surfaced those memories."

The guys didn't know what to say or do, so they all just shifted uncomfortably.

"Bye guys," said Lily as she walked out.

As she walked down the hallway, she met Mrs. Potter.

"Lily dear," said Marilyn. "Christopher just told me about this whole thing. I think he may have overreacted; he tends to at times."

"It wasn't James' fault," said Lily hurriedly. "He was a gentleman as always. It's just that I was having a nightmare and he was there and I asked him to stay. He meant to leave after I fell asleep I swear."

Mrs. Potter was silent for a moment and then said. "That was exactly what James said, and I believe you both. I'm sorry that Christopher reacted like he did; he's not at his best in the mornings."

"I'm sorry I caused so much trouble," said Lily sincerely. "I didn't mean to."

"I know dear. Besides, I've always been told that you are a very sensible person and not prone to rash decisions," she said kindly. "You're welcome to stay here as long as you like."

"Thanks for the offer, but I had better get home. My sister can only cover for my absence for so long," said Lily lightly.

"You mean your parents don't know you're here?" asked Mrs. Potter with a furrowed brow.

"No," said Lily sighing. "They probably don't care either. They'll just think I'm with some friends or something."

"They don't know you're dating James, do they?"

Lily shifted her gaze to the floor and replied in a small voice, "No. They wouldn't approve of me having a wizard boyfriend. They're hoping that I'll just 'grow out of magic,' 'come to my senses' and 'marry a nice _normal_ boy as soon as possible.' If they don't know I have a wizard boyfriend then they won't try as hard to make me 'come to my senses.'"

"Oh," said Mrs. Potter in surprise. "I see."

"Anyways, thank you for everything. I had a great time," said Lily as she looked up at Mrs. Potter. "Please thank Mr. Potter for me too."

"I will. Happy Christmas," said Mrs. Potter as she pulled Lily into a hug. She was very concerned about Lily and determined to do everything she could to help.

"You too," said Lily as she pulled away and left the house.

Meanwhile, James and his father were still arguing loudly.

"Will you just listen to me?!" shouted James. "I'm telling you we didn't **do** anything!"

"James! Look at the evidence! You were **in bed** with her!" yelled Mr. Potter just as loudly.

"And we were both dressed!"

"That doesn't mean anything!"

"If you can't trust me can you at least trust her?! You've met her; does she strike you as someone who would break any rule at all, ever?!"

"I don't know that! And besides, your mother says that she's one crack away from falling to pieces! We're not sure we want her around you because obviously she's a bad influence!"

"She's a bad influence?!" asked James in shock as he looked at his dad as if he were crazy. "You have no idea what's going on in my life! She's the reason you don't get twenty letters a month from McGonagall about me getting into fights, setting up pranks and sneaking out of bed! Mum knows that; Sirius, Remus and Peter all know that. Hell, Lily's little sister, the Hogwarts house elves, and Dumbledore know that the only reason I'm not an arrogant bullying prat is because Lily didn't want me to be! Do you really just not care?! Are you really so busy that you can't take the time to find out why I was made Head Boy even though I was never a prefect?! You just care about the results so you can brag to your friends. I can't believe I ever looked up to you."

And with that last biting remark James flung open the door and stormed away.

"Bravo Christopher," said his wife sarcastically. "You managed to alienate your son and his wonderful girlfriend in one smooth move. Are you ever going to learn to control your temper?"

"But Mary," began Christopher.

"Don't 'Mary' me," said Mrs. Potter fiercely.

"But the evidence was all there. I caught them snogging last night; he had her up against a wall! Then this morning they're in bed together? What would you have thought?" said Mr. Potter in his defense.

"Maybe I would have asked them what was going on before I jumped to conclusions!"

"And how would you know that they were telling the truth?"

"Because I trust them!" cried Marilyn. "They aren't Death Eaters or criminals to be interrogated! It's your son and his girlfriend!"

Christopher sighed. He hated being wrong. "I know Marilyn. You're right and I'm sorry; I shouldn't have overreacted like that."

"No you shouldn't have," she said, slightly mollified.

"I'll go apologize to James and Lily."

"It's a bit late for that," said Mrs. Potter sternly. "Lily already left because you made her feel unwelcome and I suspect that by now James knows Lily already left and he is out on his broomstick letting off some steam."

"I really have been neglecting you and James for a long time now and I'm sorry," said Christopher quietly.

"I know that your work is important," said Marilyn softly. "I have always understood that, but James still can't figure out what he has to do to get your attention. And now it looks as if the tables have turned; you're going to have to work to get **his** attention and respect."

"I don't how I could let things get this bad," said Mr. Potter morosely. "But he's never said anything to me before."

"That's because he was trying to be brave and strong like his dad," she said quietly as she stroked his arm. "It looks like Lily is not the only one who is one crack away from falling apart."

"I'll make it up to him Marilyn I promise."

"You had better," she said sternly. Then in a warmer tone she added, "Let's go gather the boys and open presents. It is Christmas after all."

From that day on, Mr. Potter did make a greater effort to get to know James, and he found that the little boy who had hugged him when he came home from work had grown into a witty and lively man whom he liked to spend time with. He couldn't help but wonder where the years had gone. When did James start to realize that girls didn't have cooties? When did he first figure out how to get into the kitchens at Hogwarts? When did he stop hexing that Snape kid twice a week? For the life of him, Christopher Potter could not figure it out, but he was determined to learn.

-----

Very quietly Lily let herself in by the kitchen door. Luckily for her, all of the servants were accustomed to her coming in at random hours, so no one was startled when she arrived and none of them even thought of alerting the house's mistress.

"Happy Christmas everyone," said Lily.

"Happy Christmas Lily," they all responded in unison as they paused momentarily in their work.

"I'll be back later with your presents," she promised.

"Your family are all in the breakfast room; they haven't unwrapped any presents yet," one of the cooks informed her as she left the kitchen.

"Thanks!" she said as she smiled and went to her room to change into one of the bland outfits her mother insisted on.

"Good morning everyone," said Lily cheerily as she sat down at the table.

Her father briefly looked up from his paper and said, "Morning honey."

Petunia looked at her snidely from across the table and returned to her breakfast.

Clarice said, "Good Morning Lillian."

Daisy just grinned at her from her seat next to Petunia, not trusting herself to open her mouth for fear that giggles would tumble out.

The usual silence at the breakfast table was, for once, okay with Lily because it allowed her to daydream. She couldn't help but smile to herself as she thought about the feeling of James' warm chest on her back the night before.

"So, Lily," said Petunia spitefully. "Where were you last night? Your freakish owl woke me up last night and when I went to tell you to quiet it; you weren't in your room. What could you have been doing at three o'clock this morning?"

Lily's smile instantly turned into a frown. "None of your business Petunia," she muttered hoping that everyone was too self-absorbed to have been listening.

Unfortunately, Clarice had overheard. "An excellent question Petunia," she commented. "Lillian, why don't you entertain all of us with the explanation?"

"I was visiting with Jess and Mary when I fell asleep," she lied smoothly.

Clarice raised a perfect eyebrow, "I thought I had told you not to associate with them anymore because they are beneath you now."

"You know what they say about teenagers, in one ear and out the other," said Lily sweetly.

"That's funny," said Petunia. "Because yesterday after you left, you got a letter from Jess and it asked if you were still planning on meeting up with them on Boxing day."

Lily glared at Petunia. "She probably sent that before I called her and changed our plans," she said stiffly.

"Why don't you just admit that you were with your freaky wizard boyfriend doing who knows what all night long?" asked Petunia cattily.

"I won't admit that because it isn't true! I don't have a boyfriend; Richard and I broke up months ago."

"That's not what the letter from Jess said," sneered Petunia. "Last I checked, she wouldn't make up things like that out of thin air."

"I can't believe you read my mail!" shrieked Lily. This only served to show that Petunia had trapped her; if Lily had been telling the truth she wouldn't have changed the subject and Petunia knew this.

"I knew it! This just proves it! You were off with your freaky boyfriend!" crowed Petunia.

"Oh shut up!" yelled Lily.

"Lillian, that is no way to talk to your sister," her father reprimanded her. "Apologize at once."

"Sorry," mumbled Lily as she rolled her eyes.

Satisfied, Mr. Evans turned back to his paper, having listened to none of the conversation before he heard Lily tell Petunia to shut up.

"Lillian, who is this boy you're dating?" asked Clarice. "I thought your father and I made it perfectly clear that we don't approve of you dating any of those kind of people."

"Richard was a wizard and you loved him," Lily pointed out snottily.

"Well that was different. He comes from a respectable, normal family."

"So what does that make me?" asked Lily angrily. "Am I a freak or normal?"

"Of course you're normal," laughed Mrs. Evans. "You're just going through a phase right now. Don't worry; it'll pass and then you'll be normal again just like your sisters."

"This **seven year** phase is not going to just pass! It's nothing something I'm going through; it's a part of me just like art is a part of Daisy and being nosy is part of Petunia. I don't ever plan on giving it up. Do whatever you want to me because you can't change me! It doesn't matter how many dance lessons or '_normal_' guys you throw at me; I am NEVER going to be your perfect pet that you can just marry off!" yelled Lily in frustration.

"I am not going to tolerate you speaking to me in such a fashion! I demand an apology and I don't think it's such a good idea for you to return to that abnormal school of yours after the New Year. Obviously it has had a very negative impact on you," announced Clarice.

"And how do you plan on stopping me?" asked Lily smugly. "Are you going to lock me up? Good luck with that."

"I'll take away that wand of yours!" said Clarice with her head held high.

"I don't need a wand to get away from you."

"I won't let Daisy go back to art school," said Mrs. Evans with a sudden stroke of evil step-mother genius.

Lily and Daisy both paled and looked horrified as Clarice looked triumphant.

"Now I believe that is the end of that," she said briskly. "Unless you do as I tell you, Daisy will not be returning to her school. You wouldn't want to take that away from her now would you?"

Lily slumped in her chair.

"Don't slouch," commanded Mrs. Evans. "And I'm still waiting for an apology."

"I'm sorry," said Lily angrily.

"For what?"

Lily was about to loser her temper again, but then saw Daisy's pleading face and decided to just play along for the sake of her sister. "For being insolent."

"Now put it all together."

"I'm sorry for being insolent."

"Perfect," said Mrs. Evans smiling to show her chemically whitened teeth. "Now let's all adjourn to the parlor to open presents."

Gloomily Lily trailed behind her family as they all followed Clarice's orders.

"I'm sorry Lily," said Daisy as she sat down next to Lily on the floor in front of their fake Christmas tree.

"Don't worry about it Daisy," said Lily. "I'll figure it out; I promise. This is only a minor stumble."

Then the two sisters turned to their pile of presents. Lily quickly sorted out which ones were from her friends and which ones were from her family. She opened the gifts from her parents and Petunia first. As usual it was all clothes and make-up. Lily muttered her polite thank-you's and moved onto the presents she knew had some actual thought behind them.

From Daisy she received a set of four framed original pictures. One was of Lily sitting on a railing overlooking the ocean as the sun set. Lily was surprised to see that Daisy had perfectly captured the wistful expression on her face as she gazed out at the sea and the independent gulls flying above it.

The next was of Sirius and Lily as Sirius put an ice cube down Lily's shirt. Lily was again surprised by how well her little sister could capture emotions in her paintings. She could see the pranking glint in Sirius' eye and the grin on his face showed his impulsive nature. The shocked expression on her own face as she felt the cold ice cube hit her skin was also masterfully done.

The third picture caused tears to come to Lily's eyes. It was a picture of all four of the Evans sisters. Daisy had somehow figured out how Violet might have looked had she not died. The four were sitting together at a towel on the beach laughing and having fun. Lily gazed at Violet's face until she couldn't see it anymore because tears blurred her vision. She looked a bit older, but was still the same person Lily remembered; she had the same dimples, the same smile in her eyes, the same vivid red hair thrown up in her usual messy bun.

Petunia also looked happier than Lily had seen her in years. There was no trace of cynicism or jealousy on her features. She just looked relaxed and carefree.

With a sniff and a quick wiping away of her tears, Lily moved onto the last frame. It held a picture of her and James kissing in a field in the middle of a rainstorm.

Lily laughed and asked Daisy, "Where did you come up with this idea?"

"When I thought about the two of you, that popped into my mind," said Daisy shrugging.

"I'm not sure I have a dress that would swirl around in the wind quite like that," joked Lily.

"You might want to think about trying something like this out," advised Daisy. "Look at how that dress clings to you when it's drenched."

Lily laughed softly again. The wet look certainly did flatter her and it definitely didn't diminish James' attractiveness either.

"Thank you Daisy, I love them," said Lily sincerely as she hugged her sister.

"I was glad to do it," said Daisy grinning as she turned back to her presents.

As Lily progressed through the rest of her presents her smile grew and her gloominess faded. As usual she got charms for her charm bracelet from Marlene and Alice, a heart and an arrow. Both of which caused Lily to giggle; it seemed as though her friends had had the same idea about recent events in Lily's life- Cupid had gotten her with one of his unique arrows and a new love was in her life.

From Sirius she got a book entitled, "How to Live a Little." Peter got her an assortment of Honeyduke's chocolate and Remus also gave her a charm, a little silver stag. James gave her a beautiful silver necklace with a delicate cursive 'L' pendant. Lily immediately put it on as she smiled.

After the gift wrap was cleaned up and the presents put away, Lily's smile dimmed. Little did she know that her whole holiday would only go downhill from there.

-----

Shortly after the New Year began, all of the Hogwarts students trudged back to King's Cross Station to return to school.

Lily, however, rejoiced in the fact that she had finally convinced her mother to let her finish up the school year at Hogwarts to avoid questions they didn't want to answer. She considered herself lucky to be at Platform 9 ¾ for another reason, one that she tried to hide with her cloak.

"Lily!" called Sirius as he spotted her on the platform.

"Hello," she said as he walked up to her.

Then he hugged her tightly. She couldn't help but hiss in pain.

"Are you okay?" asked Sirius with concern as she leaned heavily on her trolley.

"Fine," she managed to say as she grimaced.

"What happened?" asked Remus and Peter as they came up behind Sirius.

"Nothing, I'm fine," said Lily as she straightened up. "Could one of you help me with my trunk though?"

"Why don't you just levitate it?" asked Peter curiously as Sirius rushed forward to help.

"Just because," said Lily. "Where's James?"

"Right behind you," answered the guy in question.

Lily tried to smile as she turned around to face him, but she was still in a lot of pain from Sirius' hug and was kind of afraid of James' reaction to what she was about to tell him.

"What's wrong?" asked James as he searched Lily's face for an answer. "What happened? And why is Sirius levitating your trunk?"

"Because I can't use my wand," said Lily.

"Sure she tells _him_," muttered Peter.

"Why not?" asked James as he knit his brow in confusion.

"Because my wand arm is broken and I never quite got around to becoming ambidextrous," explained Lily as she pushed aside her cloak and showed him the cast which already had a few signatures.

"How did you break your arm?" asked James suspiciously. "And why is it in that thing?"

"It's a long story; let's get on the train first," said Lily tiredly. She was dreading the next conversation.

Silently James and the other Marauders followed Lily to the Heads' compartment, where Sirius stowed Lily's trunk and then left with Remus and Peter to go to their usual compartment at the other end of the train.

"So what happened Lily? Why are you acting so strange?" asked James as he sat on a bench across from where Lily gingerly lowered herself.

"I was in a car accident," she said slowly.

"Was anyone else hurt?"

"The driver of the car I was in has a broken leg and a concussion and the two people in the other car both have similar injuries," Lily said as she looked at her hands.

"Why are you so hesitant to tell me this? You weren't driving; the accident wasn't your fault," said James.

Lily thought for a moment how best to put what she had to say and then explained, "The two drivers were drag racing on a dark and deserted strip of highway near my house when the car I was in slid on some black ice and through a field before finally crashing into a tree. Since my car was ahead, the other car had to try and swerve to avoid an accident, but he ended up crashing into a boulder on the side of the road too."

"Why were you in the car with a drag racer?" asked James, finally catching onto why Lily was so nervous.

"James, I had no choice; Clarice made me," said Lily, her tone begging him to understand.

"You were on a date with a guy, weren't you?" asked James angrily.

Lily just nodded.

"I can't believe you cheated on me!" he shouted in outrage.

"I didn't have a choice James!" she cried.

"You always have a choice!" bellowed James.

"She wouldn't have let Daisy go back to art school if I didn't do what she wanted! I couldn't think of any way to get around it! I didn't want to go out with that guy, I swear!" said Lily, trying to make him understand.

James couldn't even bear to look at Lily at that moment. While at her birthday party he had heard some rumors about her reputation of never settling down with one guy for long, up until that moment he hadn't thought of the rumors as being true.

"I don't know Lily, I just don't know," he said as he shook his head.

Then he left.

Lily leaned back in her seat and tried to keep herself from crying because she knew that it would hurt terribly. Simply breathing hurt her bruised ribs; she didn't even want to imagine what shuddering breaths that came along with crying would feel like.

However, she couldn't help it; soon the tears spilled out and Lily was plunged into a world of physical and emotional pain as the words 'he doesn't trust me' echoed in her head constantly.

-----

"So how bad are the rumors?" Lily asked Alice and Marlene hours later.

It hadn't taken them long to find Lily and get the whole story out of her. After comforting her for a few hours, they set out to find out how many people had heard the shouting match between James and Lily and what they were saying.

"Pretty bad," said Marlene honestly. "Apparently several big mouthed people heard your conversation."

"We tried to set them straight, but they continued to believe outrageous things," said Alice.

"Such as?" asked Lily dully.

"That you had some crazy party at your house for all the guys on the Quidditch teams, except James of course, and that you snogged all of them. Then some guilty guy confessed to James and he confronted you and you defended your actions," said Marlene.

"Ugh," moaned Lily.

"It's alright Lily," said Alice as she gently put an arm around Lily's shoulders. "We know the truth and that's all that matters."

"You didn't happen to come across any of the Marauders, did you?" asked Lily.

"No," Alice lied quickly. "We didn't see them at all."

In fact Alice and Marlene had run into Sirius and Remus during their tour of the train. Sirius had had some choice words for them to repeat to Lily. Marlene punched him in the face in retaliation. If Alice and Remus hadn't been there to tear them apart, it would have become a brawl.

-----

"What happened to you?" asked James as Sirius entered the compartment with a bloody nose.

"McKinnon," muttered Sirius darkly.

"We met her and Alice while we were coming back from setting up the prank in the loo. Padfoot just had to open his big mouth and Marlene punched him for it," Remus elaborated.

"Was Evans with them?" asked James in what he hoped was a casual tone, as he pretended to be absorbed with catching the snitch he had pilfered many years ago.

"Nope, guess she is too scared to come out," said Sirius as he rummaged around in his trunk. "But I think I know what will make her come out," he said darkly as he held up a pair of dungbombs.

"Sirius," said Remus sternly. "Don't. Leave her be."

"Why? Why are you even sticking up for her? She doesn't deserve it," said Sirius angrily.

"We don't know the whole story," said Remus fiercely.

"What more is there to know? We know that she cheated on our best friend; that's good enough for me and I don't know why it isn't good enough for you," remarked Sirius angrily.

"Have you forgotten that quickly all that Lily has done for you? How can you turn on her so fast?" Remus questioned. "Isn't she your friend too?"

"Guys, stop arguing; this is ridiculous. Padfoot, just leave her alone and Moony, don't be so quick to take her side. She is the one in the wrong here, not me," stated James.

"Whatever," muttered Sirius as he returned the dungbombs to his trunk and threw himself on one of the benches.

Remus rolled his eyes at Sirius' theatrics and sat down in one of the unoccupied seats and pulled out a book.

-----

Back in the girls' compartment, Marlene was digging through Lily's trunk to find Lily's deck of exploding snap cards when she found the picture Daisy had painted of Lily and James.

"Oh my Merlin," breathed Marlene. "Did Daisy do this?"

Lily looked at the picture, nodded quickly and then looked away.

"It's beautiful," said Alice as Marlene passed it to her.

"She is such a wonderful artist," Marlene murmured. "I'm so jealous."

"I wish I had just half of her talent," said Alice.

"There are others in there," Lily said monotonously.

As her friends praised the other paintings she felt her mood decrease even more. It felt as if she would never get to live out the moment in Daisy's painting now. For the hundredth time Lily cursed Clarice. She had ruined everything.


	25. I Need You

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Harry Potter or Harry Potter related copyrights

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Harry Potter or Harry Potter related copyrights.**

"Wow Evans a whole Quidditch team in one go," taunted a bold Ravenclaw sixth year. "That's got to be some sort of record."

Lily flicked her wand and the boy's trousers disappeared. She hadn't even stopped to retort. 

A little further down the hallway, a Hufflepuff girl condescendingly said, "I **knew** you weren't good enough for him. I mean really, cheating on him in **his** house with his best friend? Pathetic."

Marlene got to the girl first; she muttered an incantation and the fifth year's perfect blonde hair became green and stuck up at strange angles.

These sorts of thing had become commonplace; Lily would walk down the halls to taunts and jeers. She had tried to quell the rumors and ask people to stop talking about her, but nothing worked. Luckily Madame Pomfrey had mended her broken arm so now she could just hex them; that is, if Alice or Marlene didn't get to it first. Marlene had made a game out of it to try and make Lily feel better. The first person to hex an offender got a point. Lily was in the lead by ten points. 

No one quite knew why everyone had such a fascination with taunting Lily. Maybe it was because she was the Head Girl and they were jealous of her position. Perhaps it was because she was a muggle-born and they were prejudiced. Or it could have been because she hurt the star Gryffindor chaser and captain and everyone's favorite Head Boy who let them get away with almost anything as long as a. he had been caught doing it and b. no one told the Head Girl. Lily tended to think that it was the last one.

She and James hadn't really spoken since the train ride. Of course they had to communicate to work together as the Heads, but the few short sentences they said to each other didn't really count as talking.

James tried to get on with life as usual, but there was always the nagging question at the back of his mind; _what about Lily?_ He hadn't really ended it between them, but they weren't really the same couple they were the previous year. 

Still he couldn't bring himself to talk to her. He didn't want to know if she had kissed that guy she was with or if that was their first date or not. He didn't want to know if that was the only guy she had dated after she had left his house Christmas morning. He didn't want to know if she was having fun as the driver pushed his car to go untold speeds. He just didn't want to know because he didn't want it to hurt anymore than it already did.

However, Lily was getting fed up. She was fed up with the looks of pity and the jeers. Most of all she was fed up with James. He was avoiding her, and she could tell that he was still angry with her. What no one knew was that she was angry at him too. She was angry that he didn't trust her and believe her. He knew about her home life and still he didn't accept what had happened between her and Clarice that had culminated in the accident. 

So Lily did what she always does when she gets fed up with a problem, she confronted it even if she didn't think it would solve anything. 

"James," called Lily as he once again left class the second it was over. No matter how fast she packed up and left the room she could never seem to catch him. But this time would be different.

As she exited the classroom she saw him hurrying off and she took off after him. Putting years of running and her current anger into her sprint, she was able to finally catch him.

"I want a word," she panted as she laid a hand on his arm.

"Well maybe I don't want to talk to you," he said stubbornly as he continued walking to lunch.

"That's just too damn bad," said Lily fiercely. "You have to stop avoiding me sometime; it might as well be now."

As James shrugged off her hand and walked down the hall, he said, "I don't want to hear whatever it is you have to say."

"It's not all about you Potter you self-absorbed toerag!" Lily shouted after him.

That did it. He whirled around and marched back to where he had left Lily standing. "No, it's all about you and what you want! Did you ever think of what would happen when you went out with that guy?! How I would feel when my _girlfriend_ went out with some other guy? Would you have even told me if you didn't break your arm in that accident?"

"I didn't have to tell you at all!" Lily interrupted him. "I **could** have told you that Petunia was driving and she wanted to kill me once and for all. It would have been wrong, but I could have lied to you. But I didn't! I trusted that you would understand; that you would get over it. Obviously I was wrong seeing as all you've been doing for the past week and a half is ignoring me!"

"And don't you think that you deserve that?" said James bitterly. "It's all your own doing!"

"Just try and see the bigger picture here, for just one bloody second! I basically told Clarice to go to hell that I would date whoever I wanted to date, namely **you** and she couldn't stop me from going to Hogwarts or doing anything else that I pleased. So she pulled out the one card I have no control over; she was going to make Daisy leave her art school. Art means the world to Daisy and making her leave that school would hurt her so much. I couldn't let that happen to my baby sister. 

"So I did what Clarice told me and that was to go out with that guy. I regret it, honestly I do, but given the choice again, I wouldn't choose anything else. So there's the story again; now let's see if you can get over yourself and accept it or at least work up the nerve to break up with me properly," concluded Lily. "What'll it be Potter?"

"Did you kiss him?" uttered James quietly as he gazed at her with a fierce intensity. 

"Of course not! I can't believe that you would even think that," responded Lily in disgust.

"I heard some… things about you at your birthday party last year," James admitted as he looked to the floor, no longer able to hold Lily's gaze. 

Lily laughed hollowly. "Let me guess. You heard that I go through guys more quickly than an alcoholic goes through a keg?"

James nodded and looked at her in surprise.

"You thought I didn't know what they say about me behind my back?" she said, correctly interpreting his expression. "Listen to me now James, none of those guys ever meant anything more to me than having some fun and getting expensive dinners for free. Sure that sounds terrible, but I had to have some fun while I was being tortured by having to go out with such boring and egotistical guys. I dumped them so often because I couldn't stand them. There it is; another of my dirty little secrets, I'm a Gemini and my other personality is a heartless player."

And then she began to walk away as tears began to gather in her eyes, but she refused to let him see her cry. It just hurt her so much that he didn't trust her; she had trusted him with so much and the fact that he couldn't have faith in her in regards to something so insignificant by comparison hurt her very deeply.

If he had let her walk away that might have been the end of it. The rest of the year would have been tense and awkward for the two Head students. She would have tried to pretend it was all okay and that she hadn't been hurt by him; she would have greeted him just as warmly as she had right before they had started dating even though it broke her heart to do it. He would have eventually gone back to his fifteen year old self; without a reason against it, why would he avoid what gave him a sense of power and superiority?

Luckily for everyone involved, James dropped his bag where he was and ran to her. 

"I'm sorry; I should have trusted you like you trusted me to tell the truth," said James hurriedly. 

"Yes you should have," agreed Lily though James could tell that her anger with him was already dissolving. 

"It won't happen again."

And with that James kissed her, making up for a week and a half of lost time.

"So," began James as the pair of them started to head to the Great Hall to catch the end of lunch. "How has your life been without me in it?"

"Peachy," chirped Lily. "Never been better."

"I'm just kidding," said Lily as she looked at his downtrodden expression. "If I didn't miss you then I wouldn't have ever cleared all this up between us."

"True," said James as he slung one of his arms around Lily's waist.

"Did you miss me?" asked Lily with an inquiring look.

"The whole time," James assured her.

"Even when you were totally furious at me?" she questioned further.

James pondered her question for a moment. Finally he answered, "Yeah. I've just gotten so used to talking to you between classes or doing our homework together in our study, that when that didn't happen anymore I felt as if my day wasn't complete, even when I was a bit angry."

Lily grinned and said, "I missed you walking with me to class and going to the kitchens when we lost track of time doing our essays and missed dinner. Let's not have another really big fight like this again."

"Can we still have little fights?" asked James. "Because you're still wrong about who would win if the teachers had muggle fist fights."

"I'm telling you; Slughorn would just body slam Flitwick and it would all be over!" said Lily with a grin.

"That's totally wrong," James stated. "Flitwick is much too small and nimble for Slughorn to catch. He would try a body slam and just fall on the floor. Then he wouldn't be able to get up and Flitwick would knock him out."

"He couldn't hurt a fly," protested Lily.

"I dunno he looks pretty vicious at times," joked James.

"You're still wrong," said Lily.

"You're just on Slughorn's side because you're his favorite student," James pointed out.

"If you haven't noticed, I'm _Flitwick's_ favorite too," Lily countered. "So I don't have an ulterior motive for picking either one."

James then changed the subject, "So, something has been bothering me since my mother's party on Christmas Eve, and you didn't answer my letters over the holidays…"

"Clarice and Petunia took them all before I could get them and destroyed them," Lily informed him.

"Regardless," continued James. "How do you know Lucius Malfoy? How did he recognize you?"

"Well," started Lily. "He may have recognized me from when he went to school here; though I think he was a sixth or seventh year when we were first years."

"Or…" James supplied.

"Or, he may have remembered me from when I testified against his father in mid-December," Lily said very quickly. 

"You what?!" asked James very loudly. 

"Yeah, I had to make a statement when Abraxas Malfoy was being tried for torturing me because for some absurd reason they couldn't charge his for holding all of us in his basement. They needed something that was proven, and Moody heard and saw what he did to me; so they just needed me to back up Moody's testimony," explained Lily. 

James sighed in frustration and ran his free hand through his hair as he looked up at the ceiling. 

"How could you be so stupid?"

"Excuse me?" asked Lily as she stopped and looked at James.

"Well I didn't mean it like that; it's just that, I mean, you're already kind of brought to the attention of the Death Eaters because you're a muggleborn Head Girl, but now you've helped to put one of their supporters in Azkaban!" clarified James.

"He's not in Azkaban anymore," Lily told James. "Two days after he arrived in Azkaban he was found dead from an acute and quick-acting case of Dragon Pox found on a blanket that was brought to him by a visitor."

"I'm not surprised; I don't imagine the Malfoys are willing to let their good image be ruined. And that's what worries me; they are so ruthless that they will murder a member of their own family because he 'disgraced' the family name. Now imagine how far they will go to hunt down someone they hate for multiple reasons," said James, begging her to understand.

"James," said Lily softly as she cupped his face in her palm. "I can take care of myself."

"That's what they all say," said James as he put his hand over Lily's and brought it to his lips. "And then Lucius Malfoy finds them in a dark alley and no one sees them ever again. And you are much to pretty for me to never see you again."

Lily smiled at the compliment and at his concern for her safety. 

"Don't worry about me; not only can I take care of myself, but I also have you looking out for me."

"Damn right," said James as he pulled Lily close to him and kissed her passionately. 

"So I'll see you at lunch tomorrow?" said James quietly as he packed up his books.

"Tonight's the full moon then?" said Lily as she looked up from her essay.

James nodded. "Yeah, I have to head out with the guys now."

"Please be careful," said Lily as she leaned her head up for a kiss.

James kissed her quickly and then smirked the patented Marauder grin. "You say that every month and we never come back with so much as a scratch."

Lily opened her mouth to protest, but James cut her off. "Peter tripped up the stairs on our way back; he didn't get that bruise from Moony."

Lily tried to comment again, but James again beat her to it. "And Sirius ran through a thorn bush that time when he had all those little scratches all over his body."

Lily sighed in defeat. "Just come back in one piece alright?" she said quietly so that none of the nearby Gryffindors would hear them. 

"Well I wasn't planning on it," joked James. "But since you insist… you know I can't resist you."

"Too right you can't," said Lily with a smirk of her own. "Do you want me to come wake you up tomorrow before lunch?"

"Nah, people might get the wrong idea if they see you coming up to _see_ me," he said, the innuendo evident in his tone. "Bye."

Lily smiled, something that she had been doing more and more since she had begun getting to know James. She loved it. She loved how he made her feel special all the time. She didn't know what she would do without him.

That's why him going out with the Marauders on the full moons scared her so much. She didn't want to go back to being self-pitying, cold, and depressed Lily; she had lived the way life was supposed to be and she couldn't go back now. Lily knew that without James, her life could possibly go back to being just that. She also knew that it was entirely possible he could die out there.

However, no matter how shaken she was, she would never ever tell James that she didn't want him to go. She understood how important it was that he was there and she wouldn't keep him from doing what was right for anything.

"Lily, why are you so jumpy?" asked Alice later that evening as Lily jumped in her seat for the fourth time when the portrait hole opened.

"Yeah, you're really tense," added Marlene.

Lily didn't even hesitate for a second. "You know that Transfiguration essay we handed in this morning? Well, I realized afterwards that I think I confused two things, and every time the portrait hole opens I'm half-expecting McGonagall to come in to tell me that I got a T."

"I'm sure everything's going to be okay, just like always," Alice assured her.

"I hope so," said Lily with a sigh. Even though she was thinking about something totally different, Lily appreciated Alice's confidence and hoped that Alice was right that the Marauders would be okay too.

Lily tried to relax but she still remained tense; she couldn't help but think about the many things that could go wrong. She tried to go to bed when Alice and Marlene went up to the dormitory, but her mind just wouldn't stop racing. So, as was her monthly routine, she went down to the common room with her well-worn copy of The Lord of the Rings and started reading, hoping to get her mind off of the danger her friends were in. 

Hours later, James and Peter stumbled into the common room, trying to support Sirius between them. He groaned and gripped his side as they tried to gently lower him onto one of the armchairs.

"What are we going to do James?" asked Peter nervously as he glanced between James and Sirius.

"I don't know," James mumbled as he ran a hand through his hair and started pacing. 

Then he saw Lily asleep on the couch. He quickly ran to her side and shook her gently. 

"Lily wake up, wake up, please wake up!" he begged her.

"What's wrong?" Lily asked tiredly as she stretched like a cat.

"It's Sirius; he's hurt," James said, sounding like he was about to cry.

Immediately Lily was alert. "How bad?"

"I don't know," James confessed. "But there's a lot of blood and he can't walk."

"What happened?" asked Lily as she hurried over to Sirius' side.

"Moony swiped him," answered Peter as he watched the scene from a distance.

"Sirius, Sirius," Lily called as she knelt in front of him. "Can you hear me?"

Sirius just groaned and gripped his wounded side more.

Lily looked over her shoulder at James and said, "We have to bring him up to your dormitory."

James nodded and started to move towards Sirius as if to pick him up again, but Lily got out her wand and levitated him first.

"Did you forget you were a wizard?" she asked him.

James just shrugged.

Lily quickly got Sirius up the stairs and laid him out on his bed. Then she tried to pry his hands away from his side, but she couldn't. 

"James, I need you to move his hands; I need to look at his wound," said Lily.

James wordlessly did as he was told, though it hurt him to hear his friend's semi-conscious swears and cries. 

As gently as she could, Lily pulled back Sirius' clothes and when she had finally exposed the wound she gasped. James looked over and instantly paled; he had to walk away so that he wouldn't retch. There was a huge gaping gash on Sirius' side; it was very open, exposing flesh and a few of Sirius' ribs.

Lily backed away as well, her hand covering her mouth. 

"I can't do this," she breathed as she continued to back up until she hit the wall. "You have to bring him to Madame Pomfrey."

"We can't do that!" shouted Peter. "She'll ask why we were out there and how he got hurt. Then she'll figure out we're animagi and she'll tell the Minister and we'll all go to Azkaban!"

"Please Lily, just try. If you don't; he's going to… to… he might… die," whispered James, his voice cracking.

"I'm not a Healer; I don't know what to do," said Lily.

"You can do this," James assured her as he grabbed her shoulders. "You have to. Like Peter, said, we'll all end up in Azkaban if we bring him to Madame Pomfrey."

"I can't, I can't," she repeated as she started to sob.

"You can and you have to," James told her as he wiped away her tears with his thumb. "Please. Sirius needs you. I need you. Just try."

"Okay," she murmured as she looked at his determined face.

James released her and she walked back to Sirius. She rolled up her sleeves and got down to work. "Okay," she said with a deep breath. "So first I should clean the wound, not wait, first I put him to sleep, and then I cleanse the wound. I also have to replenish his blood; he's lost a lot of blood. Heal his ribs, then knit the muscle back together, sew the tissue, and replace the skin. But because it's a werewolf wound I can't use the standard spells. What did Madame Pomfrey say after we were hurt that time? Oh, I have to neutralize the magic first and then do that extra spell to make sure that it doesn't get infected…"

As Lily talked herself through it under her breath, James hovered around her, not sure of what to do.

Finally Lily said, "You have to back up James. I can't concentrate with you looking over my shoulder like that. Go pace over there, or better yet, go downstairs and clean up the blood in the common room."

James obeyed, because he couldn't stop moving; it was his way of coping with the stress and adrenaline.

Well over an hour later Lily had finished healing the deepest and most complicated wound she had ever encountered. Lily collapsed onto Remus' empty bed, totally exhausted.

"I did it," she whispered to James.

James sat down next to her and gazed at Sirius, whose chest was now rising and falling rhythmically as he slept peacefully.

"I'm really proud of you," said James as he stroked her cheek with the back of his fingers. 

"I couldn't have done it if you hadn't believed in me," Lily admitted to him quietly as she looked at his tired face.

"You're amazing; you could have done it with or without my help," said James.

"Maybe I _could_ have but I wouldn't have; I was so terrified. I've never just completely freaked out like that before," Lily uttered as she sank back further into Remus' feather pillows.

"Well I nearly lost my dinner, so it's understandable," said James with a small smile.

Lily yawned and then smiled back at him as she fought to keep her eyes open.

"Don't tell Remus about any of this," said Lily right before she finally succumbed to sleep.

James nodded and then stood up. First he looked over at Peter's sleeping form; Peter had fallen asleep soon after Lily had started healing Sirius. It was understandable since it took so much more energy for a rat to run around with a werewolf than it did for a stag or dog. Speaking of dogs, James once again shifted his gaze to his best mate, his brother.

He couldn't believe that he had come so close to losing his best friend. The adrenaline was still pulsing through his veins; even though he could see Sirius safe and sound, he was still worried. It was still all so surreal; one minute everything was fine, Moony and Padfoot were playing around as usual. Then, the next minute Moony lashed out at Padfoot, who had been taunting him, and Padfoot just couldn't evade his claw in time. He had watched as Padfoot had howled and fallen to the dusty floor of the Shrieking Shack, blood already beginning to spill out. 

He had quickly led Moony upstairs before Sirius was unable to stay in animagus form any longer. While he was upstairs, Peter dragged Sirius out of the shack. Then together the two of them got Sirius up to the common room, where they found Lily.

Lily. She had just saved his best friend's life. He still couldn't believe it. He also couldn't believe that she had panicked like that. She was supposed to be the strong one; she kept her head in hard situations. She had figured out what to do when Moony was attacking her, when they were being attacked at the train station, and she even knew exactly what to do when she went out for an afternoon with his mother and when she went to a pureblood ball for the first time. It wasn't his job to remain cool and calm; he was the one that jumped to conclusions and flew into a rage. That's why they made such a great team; she calmed him down and he riled her up. So it shook him when he had to calm her down. 

But, he thought as he took a calming breath, it had all turned out okay. And, he added, it felt good that Lily had depended on him. She was so independent that he sometimes felt like he was a failure as a boyfriend. Sure, she let him walk her to class, but she didn't let him carry all her books (she said she had too many to make him carry his books and hers and that she wanted to build her upper body strength anyways). She let him open doors for her, but she laughed every time he did. And of course, there was a constant battle between them of him wanting to protect her and make sure she didn't go anywhere alone, and her desire to take care of herself and have some alone time. 

So knowing that she really did need him was… satisfying. It's always nice to know that the person you need needs you back. 


	26. A Term of Endearment

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Harry Potter or Harry Potter related copyrights

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Harry Potter or Harry Potter related copyrights.**

Just as Lily had advised, no one ever mentioned the events of that full moon to Remus. Although Sirius was sore for a few days after the incident, he never let on while Remus was around and, although he wanted to keep the scar on his side because it looked cool, it wasn't hard to convince him to use the last of Lily's scar vanishing lotion to save Remus' feelings.

So the rest of January passed uneventfully and James' birthday, February 14, approached. Every year since their second year the Marauders threw a huge party in the Gryffindor common room. It was always very successful and lots of fun; there was a lot of food, butterbeer, music and of course, the biggest cake anyone had seen. Also, usually, the Marauders tried to make it a surprise party for James, but he always found out about it ahead of time. It was just impossible for an entire house to keep a secret.

What was different about this year was that no one had even mentioned James' birthday or party to him or even within his earshot. He knew that everyone knew when his birthday was and that there would be a party, so he found it odd that they managed to keep it under wraps so well this year.

The day before his birthday he set out to get someone to crack, just for the satisfaction of it.

"So Wormtail, what did you get me for my birthday?" James asked his friend casually.

Peter looked confused for a second and then replied, "You know me Prongs; I'm such a procrastinator. I would never buy you a present this far in advance."

Now it was James' turn to look baffled. "My birthday is tomorrow."

"What?! Got to go Prongs; see you later!" said Peter as he quickly left couch he had been sitting on and fled to the dormitory.

James wasn't too upset by Peter's revelation; he thought that maybe Sirius and Remus hadn't filled Peter in. He had been the one who had cracked back in their third and fourth years. So James brushed it off and moved onto Sirius, who was slightly better at keeping secrets.

"So, Padfoot, mate, chocolate or vanilla this year?"

"Chocolate what?" asked Sirius with a clueless look on his face.

"Cake of course," replied James. "Last year it was chocolate but the year before that it was vanilla. So I'm not sure what it's going to be this year and I just wanted a bit of advance notice."

"Why are we having cake? Not that I mind of course," said Sirius still looking perplexed.

"It's my birthday tomorrow," said James with a downtrodden expression.

"Merlin! Is that tomorrow? Ah, I got to go mate, see you later," said Sirius as he made a hasty exit.

James still didn't allow himself to get too upset. Remus had probably planned the whole party himself; after all, Sirius had blown the surprise in fifth year. So James decided to go right to the source. Remus was a tough nut to crack, but luckily James knew he would crack under pressure after a while.

"So Moony, should I stay out of the common room after classes tomorrow?" asked James hopefully.

Remus sighed. "Is Sirius planning on setting off a whole bag dungbombs again? I haven't heard anything about it, but I wouldn't put it past him."

"No, Padfoot ran out of dungbombs last week," stated James.

"Oh, so I can't think of any reason why you shouldn't go into the common room tomorrow," said Remus calmly.

"No reason at all?" asked James desperately searching Remus' face for any trace of a lie. There wasn't one.

"Nope. I can't think of anything, but let me know if I shouldn't go into the common room, okay?"

"Sure Moony," said James downheartedly.

"Something wrong Prongs?"

James decided to be honest. "No one seems to have remembered that it's my birthday tomorrow."

Remus looked startled for a second and then relaxed. "Don't worry I remembered; I bought your present months ago. However, I couldn't decide between two things so I'll let you pick and then I'll wrap the gift you pick, "365 Fun Ways to Study for your N.E.W.T.s" or "A Beginner's Guide to Magical Origami.""

"You got me two books?" he asked in disbelief.

"No I got you one book. After you pick one I'm going to keep the other for myself," said Remus, seemingly unaware of James' disappointment. "Do you want to see the covers to help you pick one?"

"Nah," said James. "Just surprise me. I'll be happy with either one."

"Okay, well I have to be going, see you later," said Remus as he left the dormitory.

James sank onto his bed in disappointment. He couldn't believe that they were not throwing him a party during their last year at Hogwarts. Then he stood back up. He would ask the house elves! They would tell him if they were baking his birthday cake! That was how he had found out in second year.

"Hello Mr. James Potter sir!" squeaked the house elves as James stepped into the kitchens.

"What can Dippy do for Mr. Potter?" asked one house elf.

James squatted down so he was on the same level as the elf. "Can you tell me what flavour my birthday cake is?"

"What cake sir? Dippy doesn't understand," said the house elf with its big innocent eyes.

"You mean you aren't baking me a birthday cake? You guys bake one for me every year!" said James loudly.

"Does Mr. Potter want Dippy to bake Mr. Potter a birthday cake? Dippy would be happy to do that for Mr. Potter."

"No Dippy, I don't want you to bake me anything," said James glumly.

"Okay Mr. Potter. Can Dippy get you anything else?"

"No, I'm just gonna go."

It was finally starting to dawn on James that maybe his friends really had forgotten his birthday. But he quickly dismissed that negative thought and went to go find Lily. He knew that she could keep a secret better than most people, but he also knew exactly how he might _persuade_ her.

"Hey Lily," James whispered in her ear as she sat at her desk in the Head's common room doing some reading.

"Hold on a sec," said Lily as she continued scanning her textbook, seemingly totally unaffected by his sexy tone.

James straightened up, just a bit put out and stretched. When she still was not finished reading, he started looking around. Then he saw a certain painting on the corner of her desk. He snatched it and looked at it for a minute. Then he chuckled loudly. Lily shushed him.

A minute later, Lily was finished and she turned in her seat to look at James. "What's so funny?"

James turned the painting of the two of them in the rain to face her. "What is this?"

"My sister Daisy painted it and gave it to me for Christmas," said Lily as she reached for it to pull it away from him.

"Oh and who put this idea into her innocent little head?" asked James tauntingly as he pulled it just out of her reach.

"She got it all on her own. She said that when she thought about us, that image popped into her imagination," said Lily as she again lunged for the picture.

James smirked as he deftly caught Lily with one arm and pulled her to his chest and held the painting out of her reach with the other. He looked down at her and said huskily, "Make sure you leave an opening in your schedule the next time it rains. I have a few things in mind that I doubt your sweet little sister has imagined."

"She's not so sweet you know," said Lily as she put her arms around James' neck. "She can be a brat when she wants to be."

"I hope that it runs in the family," whispered James as he placed the painting on Lily's desk and wrapped his arms around her waist.

Oh the things Lily did to him when she kissed him like that… she could even make him forget that he wanted to convince her to tell him about his party… for a while at least.

"Can I ask you something?" asked James as he leaned his forehead against Lily's. Both of them were breathing heavily and James could feel Lily's rapid heartbeat against his ribcage.

"Anything," breathed Lily.

"Is anyone throwing me a birthday party tomorrow?"

"I don't think so," said Lily. "Everyone's just been so busy this year no one had any time to plan it. We all knew that you'd understand."

"Oh. Yeah sure."

"Besides, it's Valentine's Day and I think everyone has dates and plans. Well except us of course," Lily pointed out.

"What? Why?"

"Didn't I tell you? McGonagall wants us to patrol for an extra couple of hours tomorrow since no one really pays attention to the rules on Valentine's day. She's hoping that maybe we can control the hormone crazy couples at least a little bit. We're going to start right after dinner instead of at eight," Lily told him.

"Oh, yeah, okay," said James pretending not to be hurt that obviously no one cared enough to celebrate his birthday.

Lily noticed the disappointment on James' face, but she pretended not to see it. "I knew you wouldn't mind. Valentine's day is overrated anyways."

"Of course, right," said James nodding as he loosened his grip on Lily and moved away from her. "I've got to go. I'll see you later."

"Bye James," said Lily, looking a little confused.

--

"Hurry up Prongs! We're going to be late!" shouted Sirius as he hopped around the dormitory on one foot trying to get his trousers on and brush his hair at the same time.

"We missed breakfast," moaned Peter as he struggled with his tie.

"If we're lucky we'll make it to defense and not get detention for the third time this week," said Remus as he crawled around looking for his other shoe.

"Those two detentions were worth it!" Sirius shouted from the bathroom. "The look on McGonagall's face was priceless!"

"I can understand why she was surprised," said Remus as he tied his newly-found shoe. "You had better get up Prongs; we're not waiting for you because we all have better things to do than spend the rest of our seventh year in detention. What was I saying? Oh yeah, I doubt she's ever seen pancakes break into song before."

"I doubt she's seen bacon oink and attack Slytherins before either," said Sirius with a chuckle. "Seriously Prongs, get your arse out of bed; you're going to be late."

James groaned. Not a single "Happy Birthday!" or even the customary bucket of ice water being pored on his head. He had reminded them the day before that it was his birthday and they still didn't remember.

Very slowly he got out of bed and got ready for the day. By the time he had showered and dressed and gathered his school stuff the first class was over, so he just morosely made his way to the next one.

Throughout the whole day James was glum and dragged his feet. Not one person in the entire school wished him a happy birthday; every other year he had well-wishers around every corner bombarding him with gifts, cards and nice sentiments. This year, nothing. Everyone seemed far too preoccupied with celebrating Valentine's Day, except of course, his girlfriend.

As he sat down next to her at lunch, she looked at him and said, "You look a bit flushed; are you feeling alright?"

"Fine," muttered James as he reached for a sandwich. Lily was his last hope; he thought that surely she would remember.

"Well then, happy Valentine's day," she said as she kissed his cheek.

"Yeah, you too," he responded dully.

Then Lily turned and started chatting happily to Marlene and Alice. On his other side, the other Marauders were arguing about Quidditch. No one was paying any attention to him.

"What is wrong with you people?!" shouted James when he couldn't take it anymore.

"You're the one shouting in the middle of lunch," Marlene pointed out.

"Yeah, we should be asking what is wrong with you," added Sirius.

"What's wrong with **me**?" asked James rhetorically. "It's my birthday and no one cares!"

"If I'm not mistaken, you're turning eighteen today, not eight," said Lily. "Don't you think you've outgrown the big ceremony and all that?"

"Yeah Prongs, remember last year we all said that turning seventeen was the last birthday worth celebrating? After that it doesn't mean anything; you're no closer to being able to do anything except retire," said Sirius.

"I still want a big party and cake and everyone to pay attention to me!" said James with a pout. "It's my birthday!"

"If it'll make you feel better, your mother sent you a package that arrived in this morning's post. It's in our study, so you can go open it after lunch since you have a free period," said Lily. "Now Alice, like I was telling you…"

James groaned and left the table, unable to stand being ignored any longer.

After his free period, James had transfiguration with Remus, Sirius, Lily, and Alice. By the time he got to the classroom he was three minutes late and Sirius and Remus and Remus and Lily were sitting together, so he had to take a seat at the front by himself. Even if there was a free seat next to one of them he probably wouldn't have taken it because he was still peeved that no one was celebrating his birthday.

"That will be a detention for lateness Mr. Potter," said Professor McGonagall as he opened up his book. "Please stay after class to serve it."

"But Professor," he whined. "It's my birthday."

"That's no excuse for lateness," she snapped.

James slumped in his seat as she continued her lesson.

Around halfway through the double period, Lily and Sirius unknowingly raised their hands at the same time.

McGonagall called on Lily first, "Yes Miss Evans?"

"May I go to the bathroom please?"

"Me too!" called Sirius.

"You can't both go at the same time," stated McGonagall.

"Why not? We aren't going to the same place," said Lily innocently.

"And it's not as if I'm James and Lily and I are just going to run to our _private_ study and skip class to snog for the rest of the afternoon," Sirius commented.

McGonagall just sighed tiredly and said, "Okay, both of you just go."

Three minutes later one of the students suddenly threw up all over their desk. This of course started a chain reaction. Within seconds half of the class was losing their lunches.

After a few minutes Professor McGonagall had finally organized the healthy people to escort the sick people to the Hospital Wing. The only one left without a partner was James.

"Can I just start my detention now?" asked James hopefully. The sooner he got out of there, the sooner he could go to bed and forget the whole day and its numerous disappointments.

"No!" snapped the teacher irritably. "I planned out a lesson for today and so help me Merlin I will teach it! So pay attention!"

"Yes m'am," muttered James under his breath.

Three hours later, Professor McGonagall finally let James out of detention, which had been writing lines. He trudged through the halls, too preoccupied with his brooding thoughts to notice that although it was nearing dinner time the hallways were completely empty.

As he neared the common room, James suddenly had a thought. What if the Marauders had finally managed to throw him a surprise party? James mentally chided himself; they had almost gotten him! With a renewed spring in his step, James hurried to the common room.

As he went through the portrait hole he yelled, "You can't surprise me! I knew about this the whole time! I was just playing…"

Then he noticed that something was amiss; there weren't any people, decorations, drinks, music, or food. It could be said that the common room looked just like it usually did.

James again felt crushing disappointment. He slumped up to his dorm and flung his school bag on the floor and loosened his tie. James was about to just curl up on his bed when his stomach began to growl. He decided that he might as well go down to dinner; he would grab something quickly and bring it back up to his dorm so he could wallow.

On his way, James decided to stop by the Heads' study. He thought that Lily might have forgotten to go down to dinner and maybe he could walk down with her. Even though he was miffed at her for forgetting his birthday, he didn't want to be alone anymore.

When he didn't find her in the Heads' study, James checked the library. Once he didn't find her there either James decided to head to dinner without her. As James approached the Great Hall, he found an oddity; the doors were closed.

Without a second thought, James pushed the doors open and got the surprise of a lifetime.

As he opened the doors, every house elf, ghost, teacher, staff member and student of Hogwarts shouted at the top of their voice, "Surprise! Happy Birthday James!"

James just stood there facing his friends, enemies, acquaintances and teachers. In the front of the crowd were his best mates, Sirius, Remus and Peter and they were laughing at his shocked expression. They rushed over to him and pulled him into the Great Hall and embrace of the student body. Finally, James got all the attention he had been craving.

For a half hour he chatted with everyone who wanted to wish him a happy birthday. He was only allowed to give it a rest when it was announced that dinner was about to be served. People started to filter to the seven-person tables that had been set up for the occasion. As the crowd thinned, James started looking for his friends.

As he scanned the room, James caught sight of Lily. She was leaning up against the far wall, talking and laughing with Sirius. James walked over to the two of them and said, "Now what?"

"Now we eat!" said Sirius dramatically. "Come on, there's a seat reserved for you over here."

In the middle of the Great Hall was a table where Remus, Alice, Peter and Marlene were already sitting. Sirius quickly sat down in one of the available seats; James sat to his right and Lily sat on James' other side.

Soon after everyone was seated dinner appeared on the table. It was, of course, a meal filled with James' favourite dishes, roast beef, mashed pumpkin, peanut butter and fluff sandwiches, salad, green been casserole, bread and butter, spaghetti, chips, and chicken noodle soup. James grinned as he saw his favorite foods appear in the dishes and then quickly dug in before Sirius ate everything.

After the main course there was the birthday cake. Everyone's eyes went wide as they saw it appear on the table where James was sitting. It might have been because the bottom layer took up the entire table and then there were four layers above that.

"Good luck blowing those candles out Potter!" yelled someone in the crowd.

There were in fact, not eighteen candles on the cake but one hundred eighteen.

"I think he's gonna need a bit of help!" shouted Sirius. "Come on everybody!"

Everyone gathered around the base of the cake while James stood on a chair to blow out the eighteen candles on the top layer. With the help of the students, all the candles were soon blown out. Then the cake disappeared as everyone clapped and moments later pieces of cake appeared on the tables. All of the guests settled back into the chairs and dug in.

"Yes chocolate!" said Remus as he ate his slice with enthusiasm.

"Chocolate?" asked Sirius. "We had chocolate last year, so I told the house elves to make vanilla this year."

"Change of plans, they, uh, ran out of vanilla, so I uh made an executive decision and told them to just make chocolate instead," said Remus in between bites.

"You just like chocolate better," said Peter.

"Maybe. You gonna eat that?" he asked Marlene after he had wolfed down his piece.

"Yeah, I love cake!" said Marlene as she pulled her plate a bit farther away from Remus.

"Better hurry Marlene; Remus looks hungry," said Peter laughing.

Soon everyone had finished their cake and music started. Many people grabbed their valentines and rushed onto the dance floor. The Marauders were no exception to this; James grabbed Lily's hand and they ran to go dance, Remus politely asked Alice to dance and she accepted, a nice Hufflepuff agreed to dance with Peter, even though he had two left feet, and Sirius asked Marlene to dance.

"So McKinnon, fancy a dance?" he asked as his friends left the table.

"Yeah, but not with you Black," said Marlene testily.

Sirius was a bit taken aback. "Why not? I'm a nice guy."

"I'm not looking for a one week relationship here. I don't take being dumped very well," said Marlene tiredly.

"Oh."

"Yeah, oh. Bye Black," said Marlene sadly as she stood up.

"Wait Marlene," said Sirius as he caught her wrist.

"What?"

"I think maybe, I might, you know, uhh," he stuttered. Then he glanced over at James and Lily on the dance floor. James was twirling Lily around and they were both laughing. Sirius collected himself and continued, "I think I may want something like James and Lily have. I don't want to be the guy you think I am, the guy I was, any more. Will you go out with me?"

Marlene pursed her lips and looked at his face. "Okay, Bla…"

"Sirius," he told her.

She smiled, "Sirius."

"Would you like to dance with me?"

"Sure," she said grinning, as she let him lead her onto the dance floor.

"Would you look at that," said James as he watched Sirius and Marlene dance. "That's quite unexpected."

Lily looked behind her and scoffed, "Sirius and Marlene? Alice and I have seen this one coming for months."

"How?" asked James as he spun Lily out and then pulled her back.

"It was obvious, at least to us anyways. Sirius stares at Marlene in class all the time, and he always tries to sit next to her at dinner. He also looked murderous when Gary asked Marlene to Hogsmeade last month," Lily informed her dance partner. "Oh and Marlene told me that she has had a huge crush on Sirius since October."

"But she never even calls him by his first name," argued James.

"My point exactly," said Lily with a smirk.

"I don't get it."

"I didn't always call you by your first name either," Lily pointed out coyly.

"You mean all those times you called me 'Potter' you really actually liked me?" asked James.

"Not all the times; I'd say the first three hundred times I really did despise you."

"And after that?"

"It was a term of endearment," said Lily as she settled her head on James' shoulder when a slow song came on.

"Could have fooled me," James said into her ear.

"I did fool you," Lily said as she tilted her head upwards.

"But not for long," and with that James kissed her gently and slowly.

--

"You know," began Sirius some time later as he and James got some punch. "This was all Lily's idea. We were just going to throw you another party in the common room, one you'd find out about some way, but she decided that you deserved to really be surprised. So she talked to Dumbledore and got him to let her throw you a school-wide party in the Great Hall and she even had a school-wide meeting while you were at Quidditch practice. No one spoiled the surprise this year because she threatened to find reasons to throw anyone who did into detention for the rest of the year. She owled your mother and found out your favorite foods; she enlisted the help of the house elves and she even got McGonagall to excuse us all out of Transfiguration this afternoon so we could decorate. Of course, Remus, Peter and I helped, but the credit really should go to her."

"Hold my drink, will you?" asked James as he put his cup into Sirius' hand and walked away.

He found Lily talking excitedly with Alice and Marlene.

"Lily," he said as he spun her away from her friends. "I love you."

Then he kissed her with a fiery passion. She broke off the embrace and breathed, "I love you too Potter."

He grinned as he captured her lips once more.

Alice and Marlene kindly took their conversation elsewhere.


	27. Quidditch Discussions

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Harry Potter or Harry Potter related copyrights

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Harry Potter or Harry Potter related copyrights.**

"A bit windy, but sunny with lots of clouds, cool, but not cold, a perfect day for Quidditch!" announced team captain James Potter as he stood on the threshold of the Gryffindor changing room.

The team just groaned behind him.

"Bloody hell! It's bloody seven bloody a.m. bloody Potter!" groaned one of the beaters, a burly fourth year named Stan Dingup.

"The match doesn't start for hours," complained the other beater, a sixth year named Phil Rogers.

"And it's only Ravenclaw," the keeper, a fifth year named Laura Menges, pointed out.

"It's only Ravenclaw?" asked James theatrically. "Only Ravenclaw?! We didn't beat Slytherin with confidence; we used our skill and dedication…"

"As I recall," said one of James' fellow chasers, a sixth year named Ken Smithy. "Your dedication was severely lacking the two weeks before that particular match because you were in detention during every practice."

James' excited mood dampened immediately. He glared at Ken and said, "As **I** recall, I still managed to score seventy hundred points that game to your forty."

"Let's break it up fellas," said the final chaser, Sarah Davies, a talented fourth year. Everyone knew about the rivalry between James and Ken; they worked well together on the pitch for the sake of the team, but outside the game, they were the worst of enemies.

Begrudgingly the pair separated as the brave fourth year stepped in between them.

"Alright, anyways, I called you all here this early because I thought we could get one more practice in before the game. I had a dream last night about this amazing new plan and I think we should try it out," announced James.

The team groaned.

"James, we are the best team Hogwarts has seen in years. We will squash Ravenclaw and beat Slytherin again in April for the Quidditch Cup," Laura assured him.

"Yeah, can't we all get some sleep now and come back at ten?" asked the quiet seeker, a third year named Amy Cadals.

"No! Come on team, let's get out there!" said James trying to excite them.

"Will someone please go find Lily Evans? She'll distract him long enough for us to escape," commented Phil good-naturedly.

"You wish Phil," said James. "But I refuse to be distracted!"

"Look there she is!" shouted Stan as he pointed.

"Where?" asked James as he whirled around to see where Stan was pointing.

"My point has been proven," said Phil as the team laughed.

"Let's go people, now!" growled James who was angry that he had been so easily played.

Slowly the Quidditch team picked up their brooms and went onto the pitch. They all perked up once they were in the air however, and once James had taught them the play from his dreams, which was actually exceptional, they were totally pumped up for the game.

"Nice work guys!" said James as they all landed on the ground. "It's nine now, so I want you all to shower and go eat. I'll meet you back here at 10:30 to stretch and the match is at eleven."

The Gryffindors followed their captain's orders and by 10:45 they were all back in the changing room.

"Alright, I want everyone to stretch; in ten minutes we'll head onto the pitch and do that thing where we fly around the stands and everyone cheers for us," said James as he began to stretch.

"Aye aye captain!" said Stan and Phil in unison as they saluted him.

Eleven minutes later the team stood together in front of the door to the pitch muttering to themselves, rubbing their broomsticks, and shifting their weight uneasily. Even though it was "only Ravenclaw", all of the players had the same pre-game jitters that they had when they went up against Slytherin.

"Alright team," said James as he waited for his team to be called out onto the pitch. "We can do this. We are the best. So just go out there and play your hardest; do not show any mercy! Especially since if we lose I owe Sirius twenty galleons and I have to do anything he tells me to do for a day; now if I have to do such a horrible thing, know that I will schedule each and every practice at five a.m. on Saturday and Sunday mornings or on Friday and Saturday nights. So, unless you want to give up your social lives and your beauty sleep, I suggest that you kick some Ravenclaw ass!"

The team cheered. James' pep talks might be unusual, but they were highly effective.

A moment later, the Gryffindors were called out of their changing room. They mounted their brooms and circled the pitch, performing tricks for their adoring fans. Of course, James led this charge seeing as he now had someone very special to impress sitting in the stands.

"He's showing off for you, you know," said Sirius to Lily as James performed very difficult tricks on his broomstick.

"I know," said Lily as she grinned and blew a kiss to James.

Sirius looked over at Marlene, who was sitting next to him and rolled his eyes. Marlene smiled and squeezed Sirius' hand.

Finally both teams landed on the ground. James shook the hand of the Ravenclaw captain, a seventh year named Alan Rickman.

Then the referee, the Flying Instructor Madame Grenite, blew her whistle and threw the Quaffle up into the sky. The players all kicked off from the ground and the game began.

Three hours later, the game was still going on. The score was 220 to 190 with Gryffindor in the lead, but not by enough for James to feel comfortable. The Ravenclaw team was much better than he, or any of the other Gryffindors, had expected.

"Step it up a bit guys!" called James to his teammates, in what he hoped was a calm tone.

Stan and Phil waved their bats at him and then rushed off to hit the bludgers with renewed vigor. Sarah saluted him and then flew underneath the Ravenclaw chaser that was in possession of the Quaffle.

Recognizing the play she had set up, Ken dashed in front of the chaser and then circled him, making it extremely difficult for the poor guy to throw the Quaffle, or even fly straight. Eventually, the chaser tried to throw it and Ken expertly intercepted it. Then he dropped it to Sarah, who threw it to James who had pulled back.

James caught the ball and then rushed off to the Ravenclaw goalposts before any of the opposing chasers had a chance to even turn around. Unfortunately, James' shot was blocked by the Ravenclaw keeper.

James groaned and ran his hand through his hair; he was starting to get tired and he had a feeling that the rest of the team was too. He hoped that Amy caught the snitch soon.

The keeper threw the Quaffle to one of the chasers and James sped after her.

And so play continued for another hour, and the snitch still was no where in sight.

"I wonder how much longer this will go," said Lily absently as she watched the match intently.

"Not much longer I hope," said Marlene. "It's getting irritating just watching them go from one end to the other."

"They are pretty much evenly matched," commented Peter. "It's surprising."

"Who knew that any of those nerds actually did something other than read?" asked Sirius rhetorically.

"I wouldn't make fun of the Ravenclaws if I were you Sirius," said Lily with a smile. "Remus might just throw you off the edge of the stands."

"Why?" asked Sirius, totally clueless.

"Vicky was a Ravenclaw," Marlene stage-whispered to her boyfriend.

"Vicky…? Oh yeah, the Crazy spiky-headed rainbow-haired weird American chick," said Sirius with a chuckle.

"Now he's really going to throw you off the stands," said Peter with a grin.

"Crazy-headed rainbow what?" asked Lily.

"That's what James called her the first time he saw her," explained Sirius. "He was just having a bit of fun, but she took it rather badly… especially after he charmed a mound of green sludge to fall on her head; he said that she needed another color on her rainbow head."

"Oh so that's why she hates him with a passion," said Lily. "It's kind of strange that he doesn't learn from his mistakes."

"What do you mean?" asked Sirius.

Alice explained by saying, "Lily first started despising James when he called her 'Carrot Top' a few weeks into first year and then dipped the ends of her pigtail braids into his inkwells in every class he sat behind her in."

"Well, Lily it is fun to dip hair in ink and your hair kinda is the color of carrots…" said Sirius, defending his friend.

"That doesn't give anyone the right to call me 'Carrot Top'," said Lily stubbornly. "And I was really sensitive about my hair color back then. My sister Violet's red hair had darkened to a nice auburn by then, but mine was still the color of, well, carrots. And all of my friends and my other sisters had nice blonde hair or brown hair and I always stuck out."

"I've always wanted to be a red head," said Alice wistfully. "There are far too many blondes in this world."

"Too many brunettes too," said Marlene as she fingered her brown locks. "I'd like to stand out for once."

"It's bloody annoying," said Lily firmly.

"You know you love the attention," teased Marlene.

"I do not."

"You do too," said Alice with a grin. "You love it when guys notice you."

"Okay, moving onto some topic less girly and uncomfortable because you're talking about guys noticing my best mate's girlfriend," said Sirius. "How about Quidditch?"

"We've been watching Quidditch for like," Lily paused to look at her watch. "Four hours now. Let's talk about something else."

"How about that essay that McGonagall assigned? The one about what animagus you would be?" suggested Alice.

"Yeah, for once she actually assigned something kind of fun. I can't wait to do that spell on Monday to see what I would be. I think I would be a fox; the book I used for the essay said that foxes symbolize 'feminine magic, wildness, cunning and intelligence,' all of which describe me perfectly," finished Marlene with a smirk.

"What about you Alice?" asked Remus.

"I thought I would be a bear because I'm really protective of my friends and family and I would not hesitate to 'attack' if they were threatened. Also, according to Marlene's book, bears represent 'gentle strength and dreaming' both of which I think describe me," replied Alice. "What did you decide Remus?"

"Oh… I didn't pick anything yet," said Remus.

"I think you'd be a dog, maybe a nice golden retriever or something like that," said Alice as she looked at Remus intently. "You are a really loyal and faithful friend and you give good advice. The book said that dogs symbolize guidance."

"No fair, you just did Moony's essay for him, pick mine now," said Sirius pouting.

"You'd be a tiger," said Marlene definitely. "They are fierce, brave, strong and they live in the now, just like you. Oh and they are very _passionate_ animals."

Sirius growled and swept Marlene up in a _passionate _kiss.

The other Gryffindors just rolled their eyes and turned back to their conversation.

"What about you Peter?" asked Alice. "Did you pick an animal yet?"

"Oh, uh, no, not yet. I'm such a procrastinator I probably won't even start the essay until Monday morning," he said nervously.

"Hmmm, I think you would be a wolf," said Alice.

Sirius, having heard this, detached himself from Marlene and snorted. "You think **Peter** would be the **wolf**?"

Alice and Marlene looked at Sirius strangely. Peter, Lily and Remus all glared at him.

"Yeah, why not?" asked Alice. "He's loyal, very stable, he perseveres and he always seems to outwit the Slytherins and teachers pretty easily. The book says all those things are represented by wolves. I think it suits him."

"I agree," said Lily. "I think Peter would make a good wolf."

"What about you Lily? I think you're the only one we haven't classified yet," said Remus.

"Lily won't tell us what she picked," interrupted Marlene. "But I think she would be a Phoenix; they are known for overcoming impossible odds, and rising again after terrible things happen."

"I disagree; I think she would be a rabbit. She thinks quickly, lets go of her fear in tough times, and she is humble and alert," said Alice.

"Hmmm, I think she would be an otter," said Remus. "I didn't pick anything yet, but I have done some research and the book I looked at said that otters represent grace, mischievousness, helpfulness, curiosity, adventure, and laughter."

"How about a horse? Remus was saying the other day that they symbolize freedom, swiftness, grace and dignity," said Peter.

While the others were talking about her, Lily watched the Quidditch game, especially James, intently, seeming as if she didn't even heard the comments of her friends. Sirius, however, was watching Lily during this time, and he saw that they meant a great deal to her. He also saw something else; he saw that there was a reason she was holding back in the conversation. She had a secret and he wanted to know what it was.

"I think she would be a bird," said Sirius as he still looked at Lily, trying to judge her reaction. She was startled. He went on, "I think that she wants to escape from certain parts of her life, she wants to be able to just fly away and leave everything behind. And sometimes she feels as if she is like a bird trapped in a cage; just there to be displayed and kept from doing what she is really meant to do. Isn't that right Lily?"

The other Gryffindor seventh years were torn between staring open-mouthed at Sirius, who was spouting deep philosophical sentiments, and Lily who was still avoiding all of their gazes.

"Look Amy's spotted the snitch," said Lily, who had a tough time keeping her voice even. Sirius' remarks had struck far too close to the truth.

Everyone stood up as the two seekers went after the snitch. It was close, but finally Amy caught it by jumping off of her broom. This was, of course, pre-planned. The team had gotten together at the beginning of the season and decided that if the race to the snitch was ever really close, that the team would surreptitiously gather under Amy and she should jump off of her broom and one of them would catch her. It is a tribute to Amy's faith in the team that she did just that, and her trust was not wasted; she was only ten meters below her broom when James grabbed her out of the air.

James seated her in front of him on his broom and then steered the two of them around the stands, Amy cheering and lifting the snitch high above her head.

Lily was the first one of the group to run out of the stands. Marlene, Peter and Alice attributed it to her wanting to congratulate James, but Remus and Sirius were more observant and they exchanged glances over the heads of Peter and Alice, each wondering why Lily was acting so strangely. With a nod they tacitly resolved to find out what was bothering her.

"Congratulations James!" shouted Lily as she pushed through the crowd to find him at the center.

"Lily!" said James as his face brightened up immediately. He took her in his arms and spun her around. "We won!"

"I know," she said grinning as he put her back on the ground. "You were brilliant!"

"Yeah we were," said James oh-so-modestly.

"I was talking about you," said Lily.

It didn't seem possible, but James' smile got bigger.

"I'm going to go shower and then I'll meet you back in the common room," said James as he slowly released Lily.

"I'll be there," promised Lily.

--

"They are so happy together," Marlene commented as she watched James and Lily over in a corner of the Gryffindor common room talking all by themselves while the rest of the common room celebrated the Quidditch victory.

"Two years ago he would have been in the center of that mob where Ken and Stan are," said Alice.

"And she would have been here talking with us," added Marlene.

"About how annoying he was no doubt," said Alice.

"Ummm."

"You and Sirius make a lovely couple too," Alice pointed out. "I do believe that you are his first official girlfriend. And when it comes to Sirius that certainly counts for something."

"I like him a lot; I really do. He makes me laugh and he carries my books and opens doors for me and walks me to my classes even though sometimes it means that he'll be late to his own class. We've only been dating a few days, but it's been so wonderful," said Marlene with a goofy grin on her face.

"I'm happy for you Marly, really I am," said Alice. "I just wish I had someone special like you and Lily do."

"Why don't you date Remus or Peter? That would be so convenient since they're all best friends and we're all best friends," suggested Marlene.

"For one, something like that would never happen; it's just too much of a coincidence. I think it's amazing that just you and Lily are dating guys who are best friends never mind adding me to the mix. And two, I don't like either of them as more than friends. And three, Remus is still pining after that Vicky girl, the American one who was locked up with Lily. Although he told me at the Quidditch match, when I asked about her, that they had lost touch. Peter then added that in her last letter she had written about a boyfriend and he was too crushed to write a reply and she hadn't written another letter," Alice confided in her gossip-loving friend.

"Poor Remus," said Marlene.

"Yeah, he seemed to really like her, and I thought she really liked him back. It seemed to me that he was the only one she really talked to or hung out with. She never sat with the Ravenclaw seventh year girls, or anyone else really, at meals," stated Alice.

"Well she didn't exactly fit their stereotype; the girl had different colored hair every other day."

"She did hang out in the library most of the time though."

"Only when she was with Remus."

Alice said, "I thought they kind of made a cute couple. She seemed so outlandish, even though she was so shy, and he is just such a normal, all-around great guy."

"You're right; I would have liked to see her bring out his wild side," Marlene told her first friend.

"Just like James has brought out Lily's?" questioned Alice.

"Oh, Lily had that wild streak long before James. She ran off on a trip throughout Europe all on her own; if that doesn't say wild and crazy I don't know what does," remarked Marlene.

Alice looked thoughtful for a moment and then tried to verbalize her thoughts, "I've been thinking about what Sirius said earlier today, about Lily being a bird that is trying to escape. I think he was right; I mean, she just up and left last summer, and she is always running as if she was trying to run away from something."

Marlene slowly said, "I agree. I think, well, with her past who wouldn't want to run away? I can understand why she feels so trapped too."

"Sometimes I wonder how she gets up in the morning," muttered Alice.

"Enough of this depressing stuff! More gossiping! Now what have you heard about the breakup of Jillian Hendert and Mark Laflam? From what _I_ have heard it was rather public, but I missed it," said Marlene downheartedly.

"Well, I got a front row seat," said Alice with a mischievous smile. "Let me tell you all about it…"


	28. Pranking Plans and Memories

"Good morning class," said McGonagall with surprise in her voice as she found all of her N

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Harry Potter or Harry Potter related copyrights.**

"Good morning class," said McGonagall with surprise in her voice as she found all of her N.E.W.T. students in her classroom in their seats before the bell rang first thing on a Monday morning after a Quidditch game and party.

"Morning professor," chorused the students.

"Well, I'll just take attendance and then we can begin," she said.

"Don't bother Professor. I already checked and we're all here, so we can just begin right away. So what's the spell?" asked one student.

"Well I have to collect your essays…"

"They are already stacked neatly on your desk," said another student. "So can we begin now?"

"I suppose," said the teacher with a rare smile. "First I'm going to separate you into partners, Black and Evans, Lupin and Cardinal, Green and Lawrence, McKinnon and Querty, Potter and Fini, Philips and Narde, and George and Tenner."

Within seconds the eager students had rearranged the seating pattern to suit the assigned partners.

"You will cast the spell, "Reveilitus Animaginus," upon your partner and the form that their animagus would take will show up in a misty form in front of them. Use the flick, swish and wave form," instructed Professor McGonagall.

"So Lily, you want to go first or do you want me to?" Sirius asked his partner.

"I'll do the spell on you first," Lily replied.

"Why?" asked Sirius, still determined to get to the bottom of Lily's reaction at the Quidditch game.

"Well it's going to take me longer to get it right so I might as well start now," reasoned Lily.

"Okay," said Sirius.

After a few tries and some helpful advice from Sirius, Lily seemed to be getting it right, yet the misty form that was supposed to appear wasn't. Then Sirius realized that Lily was stalling on purpose; she was using her left hand to try the spell and he knew that she was right handed.

"So when did you become ambidextrous?" he asked conversationally.

"I haven't yet," responded Lily. "But I'm giving it a try because when I broke my arm I realized how inconvenient it is to be able to do magic with only one hand."

"Well why don't you try it with the other hand so we can get on with this," suggested Sirius.

Lily nodded and switched her wand to her other hand. Within two more tries she was successful; a big shaggy dog appeared in front of Sirius and started running circles around the pair of them.

"Surprise, surprise," muttered Lily. "Not exactly a tiger," she said audibly.

"Your turn," said Sirius. "I wonder what it will be, a horse, Phoenix, rabbit, otter, or bird?"

"Let's find out," said Lily evenly. "Shall we?"

Within a few tries Sirius had it right and a peregrine falcon soared out from Lily. It immediately flew over the heads of all her classmates with a loud cry and then settled on her outstretched arm. She stroked its smoky head before it disappeared.

"I was right," commented Sirius.

"I guess so," said Lily quietly.

"Lily, what's going on? I don't understand."

"Nothing, nothing's going on. I'm just a bit tired; I stayed up late last night finishing an essay for Ancient Runes," lied Lily.

"Right."

Meanwhile James was partnered up with Sandra Fini, Lily's rival.

"So do you want to try first?" asked James, trying to be gentlemanly.

"We all know that you think that your girlfriend walks on water but don't let that reflect badly on the rest of us; I will _go_ first and I will _succeed_ first," snapped Sandra nonsensically as she took out her wand and tried the spell.

After several tries Sandra still wasn't succeeding, so James tried to help.

"I noticed that you are waving…" began James.

"I can do this on my own; I don't need help from the likes of you," she uttered lowly.

"But really, if you just adjust…"

"Shut up. Just shut up. Don't even try to help me because I'm sure you'll just make it worse. I'm still wondering how you pass any class really; is there a brain under all that hair or just empty space where the words "Evans" and "Quidditch" echo constantly?"

Frustrated James closed the short distance between him and the proud Ravenclaw, stood behind her and grabbed her wand arm gently. Then he took her through the proper motions of the spell. What he didn't see was the blush that crept into Sandra's cheeks as soon as he touched her.

"Now you try," said James as he released her and stepped back to his original position.

Sandra hesitated for just a moment. "Could you show me that again?" she asked timidly.

James completely missed the coy look in Sandra's eye as he went to help her again. As soon as he was behind her and had taken her wand arm in his hand she whirled around and, catching him by surprise, kissed him.

Not far away Sirius' jaw dropped. Unlike Lily he had been facing the right direction to see his best mate be kissed by Sandra Fini. Covering for his best friend, Sirius distracted Lily so that she wouldn't suddenly turn around, "So when did you become ambidextrous?"

Reacting immediately, James shoved Sandra away and spluttering, asked her in a quiet, yet angry voice, "What the hell was that? I thought you hated me!"

Sandra furrowed her brow and said, "You thought that Evans hated you too and look how that turned out."

"But, you had her kicked out of your club for associating with me and the other Marauders."

"Pay attention Potter! The bylaws of the club included associating with any of you 'Marauders' but isn't it funny that I didn't bring that up until she was dating one of you, but not just any one of you; I wouldn't have brought it up if she was dating Lupin or Black. I didn't like her hanging with you guys and I discouraged it, but it only became a problem when she stopped playing hard to get," hissed Sandra.

"I'm sorry Sandra," said James slowly. "But you're not my type and I'm seeing someone right now."

"Don't you think I know that?" she asked scornfully. "I'm not just book smart you know."

Luckily James was saved from anymore awkward conversation with Sandra when McGonagall made an announcement. However, he knew he had an interesting chat with Sirius coming up.

"Now I want everyone to present their animagus forms in front of the class. Come up here with your partners; you will do the spell on each other, and then tell the class what forms you had anticipated and why and what surprised you about the results of the spell," said McGonagall. "Sirius and Lily, you two first please."

One by one the pairs went up and made their presentations. There were quite a few surprises. Instead of a fox, Marlene's form was a cheetah, and Remus' was a cougar. Alice's animagus took the form of a turtle. The other Marauders' shapes, of course, took the form of their actual animagus forms.

All-in-all, it was one of the best and most memorable Transfiguration classes most of the class had ever had.

After class Sirius held James back; he told everyone else to go on ahead because he and James had to talk about a prank they were planning.

"So Prongs," began Sirius calmly. "What the hell?!"

"Hold up a second; you saw what happened…"

Sirius interrupted, "I saw you kiss another girl while your girlfriend was **in the room**!"

"No," said James, fighting to remain calm. "You saw a crazy girl jump me and kiss me while my girlfriend just happened to be within a few meters."

When Sirius' face still like doubtful, James continued, "Come on mate; you know me and you know that I wouldn't cheat on Lily, especially with someone I don't even like."

Sirius relaxed and said, "Yeah you're right. Sorry 'bout that mate, it's just that dating has been really rough on Lily. I was there one time over the summer when she caught her date kissing some other girl."

"I understand Padfoot; you're not just my friend, you're hers too."

"Yup, I get to be that guy who threatens you if you hurt her," said Sirius as he threw an arm over his best mate's shoulder. Then he continued, "So really, you hurt her and I will castrate you."

Both boys laughed their way to Potions.

--

Later in February the full moon came around again. Unlike what James and the others had expected, Lily was not even more tense than the previous month; in fact she seemed totally calm about the boys going out with Remus.

"Be careful out there," said Lily quietly as she hugged James good-bye.

"Actually I was thinking I would be completely reckless and get myself nearly killed," said James just to be contradictory.

Lily smiled a little at James' huge grin.

"We'll be careful," he said. "We decided that we'd go out into the Forest since with all of the open space there is less of a chance for accidents."

"Well then don't get eaten by anything," joked Lily as she let James go.

"Aye aye Captain," said James as he saluted her and went up to his dormitory to meet his friends and then sneak out under his invisibility cloak.

Lily smiled to herself as she went back to her essay.

--

Moony howled in excitement as he chased Padfoot out of the confining house and into the large forest with lots of interesting sights and smells. Prongs, sporting Wormtail on his antlers, leaped behind them, just as happy as the wolf not to be in the cramped Shrieking Shack where he was always hitting things with his antlers.

The four boys were playing their version of hide and seek when Padfoot smelled something out of the ordinary. He couldn't quite place the scent, but it wasn't part of the forest and it certainly wasn't the smell of one of his friends. However, it smelled sort of like Prongs; lately his smell had changed slightly. Sirius attributed it to the fact that he was always hugging and touching Lily and that her smell had rubbed off on him.

Then it hit Sirius; the smell was Lily! As he lay crouched in the bush where he was hiding from Moony, he tried to look around to find his mate's foolish girlfriend. He couldn't believe that she had followed them into the woods. She knew the danger, having been attacked by Moony months earlier.

Unfortunately Sirius' search was interrupted when he heard the howl of Moony close by. He bounded out of the bush and away from the howl so quickly that he startled a bird and a squirrel out of a near-by tree.

For the rest of the night Sirius tried to catch the smell again, but it seemed to have disappeared.

The following afternoon Sirius sent a note to Lily:

_Were you in the Forbidden Forest last night?_

Skillfully avoiding Flitwick's notice, Lily sent back the note with the reply:

_Of course not; that would be stupid. Why do you ask?_

As Sirius read her reply he furrowed his brow; he knew that he smelled her last night and his nose didn't lie. He quickly wrote a response and sent it back to her:

_Padfoot thought he smelled something funny last night, something like you._

Lily laughed silently when she read the message. She wrote her reply and then put a spell on the parchment so that no one else could read it.

_Are you insinuating that I smell funny?_

Sirius snorted and then had to cover it with a cough when Flitwick glanced over in his direction. James also stirred next to him in his sleep. Once he was sure that Flitwick was busy with his lesson and James was still asleep, Sirius sent his reply:

_Yes. Just kidding, you know what I mean; it was a smell that didn't belong and it stuck out. _

Lily quickly wrote her reply, eager to get Sirius off of the topic:

_I hugged James before he left last night; my "funny" smell probably rubbed off on him._

Sirius received her message and was troubled. At first he had thought that was the answer as well, but James hadn't been anywhere near him at that time and he had smelled the James-Lily combo smell before. The smell in question was clearly just Lily. He wrote a quick reply:

_I don't think so. This wasn't like that. _

Lily was starting to get a bit defensive now:

_I'm not foolish enough to go out into the Forest to spend some "quality time" with Moony. I'm perfectly aware of what happens when a human tries to "play" with him._

Sirius crumpled up the note and put it in his pocket to burn later. He was even more confused than when he started.

--

The rest of February and most of March passed without a hitch (especially since Lily was never told about the Sandra incident). Lily and James continued to conduct their Head duties admirably, although there was much speculation about how much patrolling they actually got done during their shifts. It remained speculation however, because they were never caught in the act of shirking their responsibilities in favor of couple activities.

Sirius and Marlene also got closer to the point where they were nauseously affectionate.

"Are they at it again?" groaned Peter as he and Remus sat down at the Gryffindor table for dinner on the last Saturday in March.

"Yup," said Alice. "Thank Morgana the two of you arrived; I've been stuck between watching Sirius and Marlene suck each other's faces off and James and Lily trying to pretend that they aren't totally in love with each other. It's been torture."

Remus looked sympathetically at the girl sitting next to him and said, "Personally I prefer James and Lily. At least they _attempt_ to not make us all want to vomit."

"I'm sure it's a lot easier for them since they have their own private room to go to whenever they want to do _whatever_ they want," said Sirius as he paused in his activities.

"It's not my fault," James pointed out. "It just so happens to be one of the perks of the stressful and demanding job of being Head Boy."

"Another perk being the ability to go off and snog your girlfriend at all hours of the night without fear of getting caught because you are supposed to be the ones doing the catching?" asked Sirius teasingly.

James looked pensive as he played along, "I do believe that that would qualify as a perk."

Lily swatted him playfully.

"I think it's a good idea. Then we don't have to see them snogging at the dinner table," Alice added pointedly looking at Marlene and Sirius.

Just then Peter caught a snippet of a conversation two first years were having a little farther down the table and spit out his food all over the table, effectively ending the bickering about the two couples in their midst.

"Yes Peter? Would you like to contribute something to this conversation?" asked Marlene sarcastically as she grabbed a clean plate to replaced the one that was now covered in Peter cooties.

"April first," he stated.

"What about it?" asked Alice sharply, whose dinner had also been spoiled.

"It's only three days away and we haven't planned out any pranks and these first years were just saying that they were scared to even get out of bed on April first because they had heard stories about what kind of crazy things happen that day," rambled Peter.

"Merlin he's right," said Sirius in shock.

"How could we have almost missed this?" asked Remus, equally surprised.

"We've never missed the Marauder Christmas; it's when we first became friends," stated James.

"And got our name from Minnie McG," added Sirius.

"You know, I can't even remember a time when you guys weren't friends," said Alice thoughtfully.

Marlene scoffed at this. "I can. When we were little all three of us used to go to fancy parties together and it was always clear that Potters and McKinnons did not mix with Blacks and Malfoys. Our families acted civilly towards each other on the surface, but we were always told not to befriend them. But, yet again, James felt the need to do the exact opposite of whatever his dad told him, so he became friends with this guy," she finished, pointing to her boyfriend.

"At least I'm not dating him," James shot back.

"I should hope not," joked Lily.

Then Marlene turned to Sirius and said with a pouty look, "Baby, you would tell me if you were secretly dating a guy behind my back right?"

"Of course," said Sirius, playing along. "I would never date a guy behind your back, especially the guy that turned your hair purple and put snails in your soup and spiders down the back of your dress and tied your shoelaces together; I would definitely tell you and then do it right in front of you."

Alice laughed and then said, "I remember hearing about all those things James did to poor Marlene. I still think it's amazing that you've forgiven him Marly."

"You're a Pureblood Alice, weren't you at those parties too?" asked Peter.

Alice blushed and said, "My family isn't quite as wealthy and influential as James' and Marlene's, so we don't really run in the same social circles. But I did meet Marlene when we were five and were tutored together at Marlene's house. And then we became fast friends."

"Making it extremely hard for me to make any friends when I got here," said Lily. "Everyone in my dorm already knew each other and no one was looking for another friend."

"But luckily, James acted like his usual pratish self and dipped your pigtail braids in his ink one day when he was sitting behind you in Charms," reminisced Alice. "And Marlene, having seen this, immediately jumped to your defense by levitating him out of his seat and shooting him around the room until he apologized. Then the three of us were excused to go to the bathroom to help you wash out your hair and we became fast friends."

Marlene smiled, "I couldn't let him get away with doing crap like that; not after I had suffered for so many years and now I could finally take my revenge. That was the first in many detentions I got because of you Potter."

"Glad I could help," said James with a large grin.

"Funny, we all became friends because of James' belief that pranking people was the best way to make friends," said Remus.

"He needed help to set up a prank, for Sirius coincidentally, and he asked me to help him by keeping watch, and we've been mates ever since," said Peter.

"Then the two of them started pranking me too," said Remus. "Stupid stuff like putting worms under my blanket and hiding my shoes. So naturally I retaliated."

James snorted. "Retaliated? All you did was prank Sirius and then frame me for it."

"Yeah and then it was on," said Sirius with a smile as he remembered his first year. "None of James' previous pranks had actually ever gotten me because I was never the first one to walk into them, so I wasn't bothered by him. But then Remus' pranks actually worked, so I decided I had to put that uppity Potter kid in his place and initiated a prank war."

"It went on for months and eventually involved Peter and I until on April first, we had driven McGonagall to her wits end because our pranks were not only on each other, but by that time on the entire school because we were all trying to outdo each other to prove we were the best, and she just so happened to say to Flitwick, while we were all within earshot, that she didn't know what she would do if we all teamed up and stopped attacking each other to just focus on pranking the school," explained Remus.

"And she called us a whole bunch of names, but the one that stuck was "Marauders"," said Sirius.

"We looked at each other and a legacy was born," said James dramatically.

"So on April Fool's day, we always celebrate what we call the "Marauders' Christmas," explained Remus.

"Like we didn't notice that every year on April Fool's Day the four of you go wild and crazy," said Lily sarcastically.

"I just can't believe that you guys almost forgot," said Alice.

"We had better start planning," said Sirius and then he shoveled as much food as he could fit into his mouth.

"Do you mind if we use our study to plan?" James asked Lily as he grabbed a napkin and started putting chicken wings in it.

"How ironic, the Head Boy breaking school rules in the room he was given as a reward for being an upstanding and rule-abiding student," commented Lily.

"You and I both know that you've broken loads of rules over the last couple of months," said James with a smirk.

Lily blushed and laughed and then said, "Go ahead and use it; I won't tell."

"Awesome," said James as he pecked her on the lips and left with his friends, carrying his unfinished meal with him.

Lily watched him go and when she turned back to her friends they had identical mischievous grins on their faces.

"So Miss Responsible, what rules have you been breaking with that stud of a boyfriend you have?" asked Marlene suggestively.

"I'll tell you in our dorm after dinner since clearly I won't be breaking those rules tonight," said Lily with a grin.

"Ooh, a girls' night! I say we invite the rest of the girls and do this up right with food and games and make-overs and gossip," said Alice excitedly. "Lots and lots of gossip!"

"Sounds great Alice," said Lily with a laugh.

Meanwhile the great planning session of the Marauders was about to commence.

"I can't believe we haven't played any pranks in months," said Peter, dumbstruck.

"Life got in the way," shrugged Remus. "You and Sirius were gone for the exchange thing and by the time you got back James and Lily were dating and then there was planning his birthday and then Sirius and Marlene started dating and besides all that James is Head Boy and I'm a prefect and we're all taking really hard classes and NEWTs are coming up…"

"You forgot the part about you dating Crazy spiky-headed rainbow-haired weird American chick," said James.

Remus clenched his fists and mumbled, "We were and still are just friends; friends that haven't written to each other since January."

Sensing Remus' discomfort because he had been present in the stands at the Quidditch game when Vicky was brought up, Sirius sought to change the topic quickly. He found his opportunity sitting on Lily's desk. He picked up the same painting James had a little more than a month ago and turned towards James with and inquisitive smile and a look that said he was about to burst out laughing.

James groaned and leaped to try and take it out of Sirius' hands, but Sirius jumped out of the way and ran around the study taunting James.

"Oh look at ickle Prongsie and his girlfriend going at it like rabbits! The wet look isn't too bad on you Prongs, but man does it do something great for your snogging partner and her scrumptious looking curves," said Sirius as he jumped over the couch to escape the wrath of his friend.

After the last comment, James had enough adrenaline to tackle Sirius and wrestle the picture out of his hand.

Then James jumped up, put the picture back on Lily's desk, dusted himself off and said, "Now that that's settled; let's get down to business."

James settled himself on the couch next to Remus and Peter occupied a chair but Sirius remained standing, looking around the room indecisively.

"Is there a problem Padfoot?" asked Remus.

"Well I'm just trying to decide which surface in this room is the most likely place that James and Lily haven't snogged each other senseless and done dirty things," explained Sirius with a grin.

James looked around the room and an even bigger smile was on his face as he said, "If you refuse to sit on any surface that Lily and I have snogged on, I'm afraid you're going to have to stay standing."

Sirius just shrugged and sat on the floor. James just smirked, so Sirius jumped up quickly.

"Why are you refusing to sit anywhere that James and Lily have done… whatever it is they've done?" asked Peter.

"Because I don't want to catch James' "snogging cooties"; Lily is a fabulous kisser, and I wouldn't mind getting her cooties, but I have heard from some reliable sources that James just isn't any good at snogging and so I wouldn't want his lack of skill to somehow rub off on me," Sirius explained.

"What?!" James said his mouth open in surprise. "You have got to be kidding me!"

With a serious look on his face, Sirius shook his head slowly and said, "Sorry, Prongs, but it's true; I am the superior kisser and everyone knows it. You could even ask Lily if you wanted."

"I don't think so," snorted James.

"Sadly for you mate, it's true. I'm not only taller than you, but also a better kisser," said Sirius mockingly.

"One, you are only a centimeter taller than me and two, there is no way in hell that you are a better kisser."

When Sirius opened his mouth to rephrase his past statements for the third time, Remus said, "How about we take a poll and find out once and for all?"

"We could make the poll part of some prank somehow," suggested Peter.

"Hmmm… I like it!" said James and Sirius in unison.

Remus grabbed a quill and piece of parchment from James' desk and wrote their decision down. "What other prank ideas do we have?"

And so part one of the frenzied planning began. On the other side of the castle, Minerva McGonagall shuddered as she caught sight of her calendar and saw that April first was rapidly approaching.


	29. Sticky Slippery Wet Oatmeal Kind of Day

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Harry Potter or Harry Potter related copyrights

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Harry Potter or Harry Potter related copyrights.**

Although they had hardly gotten any sleep for the past three nights because they were up late planning and setting up pranks, on the morning of April first, all four Marauders were up an hour before breakfast started. As much as they tried to hide their excitement, anyone who entered the Gryffindor common room that morning, hoping to get down to breakfast before the Marauders and thus escape unscathed, couldn't help but notice and cringe at the giddy grins on their housemates' faces.

After they had intimidated enough of their housemates, the four boys headed down to the Great Hall for the start of breakfast. Outside of the doors all of the early-bird students were milling around at the entrance waiting for an innocent first year to walk by so they could push him through the doorway to see what would happen to him. Then they would decide it if was worth it to eat breakfast, or just resign themselves to the fact that they wouldn't be eating that day. When they saw the Marauders they all instinctively stopped talking and started looking for an alcove to hide in.

"Good morning fellow Hogwarts students," boomed Sirius joyfully.

"And what a wonderful morning it is," added James.

"Does anyone know what morning this is?" asked Peter.

"Why it's April Fool's Day!" stated Remus.

"Say Sirius, do you know how I like to start off April Fool's Day?" asked James loudly.

"No, James, I don't," said Sirius with obvious sarcasm.

"With a hearty breakfast prepared by our good friends and accomplices the House Elves," answered James.

"Well let's go in then, shall we?" said Sirius as he and the other Marauders crossed the threshold into the Great Hall.

As they entered the room there were four enormous lion roars that echoed throughout the Great Hall and the surrounding corridors.

"It worked!" said Peter gleefully as the boys took their seats at the far end of the Gryffindor table so they could survey their hard work.

Still wary of what would happen, the students didn't enter the Great Hall very quickly; they all just hovered around the doors. Then someone pushed a Hufflepuff into the room to see what would happen.

As the Hufflepuff entered the room a brief shower of sprinkles fell from the ceiling. The Hufflepuff smiled in relief as he saw the light coating of colored confections covering the floor, tables, and breakfast foods.

"I'm okay!" he shouted as he turned around to his audience in the doorway.

The Hogwarts students cheered and then rushed through the doors towards breakfast. As each Hufflepuff passed underneath the large stone archway more sprinkles fell from the sky. For each Ravenclaw feathers drifted down, and when the Slytherins entered the Great Hall cold oatmeal rained down. The Marauders had certainly matured and refraining from targeting Slytherins only, but some prejudices just don't die.

Within a half hour the entire Great Hall was glaring at the Slytherins because the oatmeal didn't just fall on Slytherins, it coated everyone; feathers and sprinkles they could handle, and even that roar wasn't so bad when you got used to it, but cold oatmeal was just disgusting.

About an hour into breakfast, Lily, Marlene and Alice showed up for breakfast, along with every Gryffindor that hadn't yet entered the Great Hall. As would be expected the roar that ensued when they crossed the threshold was nearly deafening.

"Interesting prank," noted Lily as she sat down next to James and kissed him good morning.

"Why thank you," answered James. "There is much more to come I assure you."

"How thrilling," muttered Marlene darkly as she plunked herself down between Sirius and James.

"Morning love," Sirius greeted his girlfriend with a smile. He and everyone else knew that Marlene was a night owl and definitely not a morning person.

"Oh shut up," she grumbled in an endearing fashion.

"So is there any reason why most of Gryffindor House has joined us for breakfast?" asked Remus as he looked up from the Daily Prophet to see that a third of their house was occupying a very small space directly around the Marauders and their female friends.

"They think that since Lily is dating James and Marlene is dating Sirius and I'm their best friend we won't be pranked by you guys and that if they stay close enough to us that they won't get pranked either," explained Alice as she dug into the scrambled eggs.

"I wouldn't eat that if I were you," said Peter.

Many forks with eggs on them froze in midair at that statement.

"That's exactly what Alice was talking about. We have an entourage because they think we have insider information," said Lily as if the large group wasn't within earshot.

"It's bloody annoying if you ask me," said Marlene loudly.

Sensing one of Marlene's violent morning outbursts approaching Alice addressed the crowd, "We don't know any more than…"

She was cut off by a shower of cold oatmeal.

Lily wiped her face off and said, "See we're just as at risk as you are. We don't have special protective charms or advance notice of nasty things like cold oatmeal falling from the sky. So please just give us some space."

Many were still doubtful and didn't move, so Marlene shouted angrily, "That means move you lot!"

That got them moving, but many didn't stray too far away, just in case the girls did know something and might let that information slip.

"So… sprinkles?" asked Lily finally. The seventh year Gryffindors were having trouble starting normal conversations with so many people listening in.

"Yup," said James and Sirius in unison.

"And feathers," said Alice in disgust as she pulled one out of her juice.

"Has McGonagall handed out detentions to you guys yet?" asked Marlene, who was slowly becoming her normal perky self.

"She doesn't have any proof it was us," said Peter.

"I think everyone here knows it was you guys," said Lily.

"But no one can prove it was us," James pointed out. "And where would we all be if teachers could just hand out detentions based on beliefs and assumptions?"

"Well, Lily, Alice and I would still be here but I think you four would be bums on the streets of London because you were expelled and your parents disowned you," said Marlene, who didn't notice the slight stiffening of her boyfriend at the part about being disowned.

"We wouldn't be bums," said James, who had noticed his best friend's subtle discomfort. "We could just hide in some remote part of my house and my parents would never know."

"So what's everyone doing for the Spring holiday?" asked Remus.

"I'm off to Paris with my parents and brother," said Marlene.

"My family and I are visiting relatives in Surrey," said Alice.

"I'm stuck at home with my gram while my parents go on a cruise in the Mediterranean," said Peter glumly.

"For the first week Prongs and I are hanging at his house and then we'll meet up with Remus and we'll all be off to the Potter manor in Italy for the second week," said Sirius gleefully.

"You're welcome to come too Peter," said James kindly.

"I wish I could, but you know my gram," he said sullenly.

"She won't let him out of her sight," Remus informed the girls.

"Just offer to get some groceries for her or something and then head over to James' instead. And a few hours later just grab some stuff out of James' pantry and go home," suggested Marlene.

"Tried it; she figured that I got lost because I took so long and now she insists on escorting me to the shops and back," explained Peter.

"You haven't tried slipping her a sleeping draught yet," said Sirius.

Peter's response to that was drowned out by an abnormally large amount of owls flying into the Great Hall to deliver the morning mail. The Marauders looked excited; everyone else looked worried. One hundred or so school owls circling the hall started dropping slips of paper which slowly fell to the students below.

Lily was lucky enough to grab one and as she read it she was overcome by laughter. "Are you serious?" she asked the Marauders through her giggles.

"Let me see," said Marlene as she snatched the paper out of Lily's hands.

Marlene too succumbed to laughter as she handed the parchment over to Alice.

"I can't believe you guys," said Alice with a chuckle.

"Hmmm…" said Lily as she surveyed another parchment that the fifth year boy next to her had handed over. "Whom shall I vote for?"

"Wait! You aren't going to vote for me?" asked James in surprise.

"Ha!" shouted Sirius. "I told you I was the better kisser and even your girlfriend knew it! I told you so!"

"Who are you voting for Marlene?" asked Lily as if the boys weren't even there.

"Dunno, but It does say who is **the best** kisser in Hogwarts so I'm thinking of writing in Tim Jorkins," replied Marlene.

"What?!" spluttered Sirius and James at the same time. "Tim Jorkins?!"

"I can't believe you would vote for that loser Hufflepuff over me!" Sirius continued in disbelief. "There's just no way!"

"Excuse me," said a bold Ravenclaw sixth year as she tapped James on the shoulder.

"What's up Amy?" asked James brightly as he turned around to face the girl.

"It's just that… well…" and then suddenly Amy bent down and kissed James, even though Lily was sitting right next to him and watching.

James, as well as his friends and girlfriend were dumbstruck. Their shock only increased when Amy seized the moment and kissed Sirius next.

"Just had to make an educated vote," said Amy as she circled one of the names on the sheet and handed it to Remus as the paper instructed. "Bye!"

"I can't believe she did that," said Alice in shock.

"Who did she vote for?" asked Sirius as his surprise ebbed.

"Not telling," said Remus as he put the parchment into his book bag.

"I'm going to hex her," said Marlene as she started to get up.

"Oh leave her alone Marlene, hex Sirius instead," said Lily as she took a small bite out of her toast and avoided James' gaze.

Sensing his girlfriend's sour mood, James said quietly, "You know that kiss meant nothing to me right?"

"Yeah," said Lily unconvincingly as she rummaged in her book bag and tried to ignore the uncomfortable feelings that were washing over her.

"Lily," said James seriously as he put his arms around her and stilled her hands by covering them with his own.

"What?" she asked as she turned her head to finally look at her boyfriend.

"I love you."

Lily smiled and said, "I love you too, and I'm sorry I'm being such a paranoid ninny."

"S'all right," said James as he rested his forehead against hers. "So you were just joking before, right? You really are going to vote for me."

"Wouldn't you like to know," Lily teased him as quickly ducked out from under his arms, grabbed her bag and fled the Great Hall laughing all the way. James was soon on her heels chuckling as he sidestepped a fourth year and jumped over rogue bags.

Up at the staff table Minerva McGonagall shook her head as she finally got her hands on one of the mysterious messages. "But Albus, surely we can punish them for this!"

"Minerva, at this point what point would punishment serve?" asked Dumbledore as he smiled when he saw that the floor of the hallways outside the Great Hall had just been enchanted to be extremely slippery and his students were sliding all over the place. "They are graduating in only a few months and a few more detentions certainly won't make much of an impact on them now."

"But we have to set an example of punishment so that the younger students won't take up this nasty tradition once they're gone," said McGonagall tiredly.

"There is so much darkness in the world today; look around at the students. They cringe when the post arrives, fearing that a black envelope will come for them. They don't even bother to open the paper anymore knowing that they won't receive any hope from its dismal articles. They are all much too serious and burdened for children. These pranks help Minerva, if only for a moment.

"When pancakes sing and sprinkles fall from the ceiling it makes them remember that magic isn't just for the bad things the reporters talk about, but for good things too. It helps them to see the good things in life and be more like children again. Look at how preoccupied everyone is at wondering what prank will happen next instead of which relative of theirs will die next. That is how life should be. Instead of looking at this as rule breaking, think of it as a service to the school," concluded Albus with a serene smile on his face.

"Alright Albus," sighed Minerva as she contemplated all of the headaches she was sure to endure on this day, her least favorite out of the whole school year.

"I'm just sorry that I will miss the grand finale this evening. I would much rather be here than at my Mugwumps meeting," sighed Albus.

"Would you like to switch places?" asked Minerva hopefully.

Albus just laughed jollily.

--

"I must say mates this day is going fabulously," said Sirius from his position stuck to a wall in a little used corridor on the fifth floor.

"You know I could have sworn we didn't charm this wall to be sticky," said James. He would have been running a free hand through his hair as he said this, but as it was both hands were stuck to the wall along with the rest of James.

"Do you think anyone will find us anytime soon?" asked Peter.

Peter was in the worst position. While the boys were running to their next class they came across the slippery floors. Sirius, who had been in the lead, hit the charmed section first. He skidded but maintained some semblance of balance and hit the wall with his back and remained in a standing position.

James was not so graceful. He slipped almost immediately and slid across the floor on his stomach. He would have survived to help Sirius escape from the sticky wall if Remus hadn't tripped over him and sent them both careening across the floor and then Peter came along and made it all worse by stumbling and sending all three of them crashing into a wall.

Peter's palms were stuck to one wall and his feet were stuck to the opposite side. Underneath him Remus was lying on his back while his entire right side, including the pocket where he kept his wand, was stuck to the wall. James had somehow gotten flipped upwards and his entire front side was stuck to the wall above Remus but underneath Peter's stretched torso.

Remus sighed. "Probably not. The people that aren't stuck to walls or looking for their shoes which mysteriously disappeared when they stepped into the Transfiguration classroom…"

"That shoe thing was sheer brilliance on my part," interrupted Sirius as he wiggled his socked toes. "Makes the slippery floors so much more slippery."

"Like I was saying," Remus continued. "Those that haven't been pranked probably wouldn't dare to come into this very narrow, dark, and abandoned corridor that doesn't lead anywhere unless you know of the secret passage that leads directly to the classroom nearest the Great Hall that is behind one of the hundred landscape paintings on the walls."

"You sound a little angry Moony," Sirius commented after a brief pause.

"We're going to miss lunch," grumbled Remus.

"And all of the lunch festivities," added Peter.

"Unless someone rescues us," said James optimistically.

"Like that will happen anytime soon," responded Peter.

"So how's the poll going Moony?" asked Sirius.

"Much more fairly than if you were allowed to take and tally the votes," remarked Remus.

"But who's winning?" asked James.

"I'm not telling you until tomorrow," responded Remus.

"If I could I would kick you right now," muttered James.

"So what now?" asked Peter after a very long silence.

"We could yell and hope someone hears us," suggested Sirius.

Remus pondered some other possibilities and ultimately asked Peter, "Can you reach into James' pocket to get his wand?"

Peter sarcastically replied, "With what appendage?"

"Right," sighed Remus.

"Can you reach into Wormtail's pocket Moony?" asked James. "Isn't your left arm free?"

"I'll try," said Remus.

He stretched his arm as much as he could and eventually he was able to grab Peter's wand.

"Yes!" cheered Sirius who was able to watch the whole thing since he was stuck to the wall opposite James, Remus and Peter.

"What?!" asked James excitedly. Since half of his face was stuck to the wall, he wasn't able to see Remus' victory.

Instead of telling his friend of the development, Remus decided to show him. However, he didn't fully think about the consequences of saying the counter-spell to the sticky charms on the walls. Sirius laughed as James and Peter both landed on Remus the second they were no longer bound to the wall.

"Get off you great prats," wheezed Remus.

"Not your smartest moment Moony," commented Peter as he scrambled off.

"Let's just get to lunch before the shock wears off," said James as he stretched. "I really want to see everyone's faces."

As the trio walked away Sirius called, "Hey what about me?! Mates! Hello!"

After they got to the end of the corridor, without turning around Remus waved his wand and Sirius fell face forward onto the stone floor. He slid for a while on his face and then jumped up to follow his friends, but instantly slipped and fell back down.

"Why is it that you guys can handle this but I can't?" asked Sirius from his position on the floor.

"Try skating," suggested James. "Just slide one foot in front of the other."

"It's not that hard Padfoot," said Peter.

"Ah ha! Padfoot!" shouted Sirius.

He looked around and then turned into his animagus form. His dog form didn't increase his grace. His paws slipped out from under him and he landed on his belly. Sirius turned back to human form and pouted.

"Here," said Remus as he conjured a rope and threw it to Sirius. "We'll pull you."

Sirius grabbed the rope but when his friends tried to pull him, they slipped backwards and fell on their rears.

Ultimately Sirius just settled for sliding himself on his stomach. Once he reached his friends, they somehow pulled him to his feet and then they all skated and slid to the passageway.

"Where have you guys been?" asked Lily as the boys took their usual seats.

"Just took a minor detour," said Sirius with a smile.

"You sure flew out of Charms," commented Marlene as she stared mournfully at her empty plate.

"Did you really have to make lunch so disgusting?" asked Alice as she gazed at the various bowls filled with strangely colored glop and platters of weird globs.

"What's disgusting about it?" asked Peter as he helped himself to another spoonful of purple slime. "Tastes okay to me."

All three girls and the rest of the Hogwarts student body looked revolted as the Marauders dug into the gross lunch dishes enthusiastically.

Finally it dawned on a bright Gryffindor not far from the Marauders.

"It's just an illusion, another prank," the fifth year proclaimed. "The green stuff tastes just like chicken."

Warily the students took tastes of the colorful dishes and soon dived in whole-heartedly once they realized that the food would not make them gag or poison them.

Instead of talking among themselves, the Marauders stayed quiet so they could listen to what their peers were saying about the day so far.

"My favorite was the look on McGonagall's face when she saw that none of us had shoes," said one Hufflepuff who had had Transfiguration first thing that morning.

Several others laughed as they remembered the start of their class and they wiggled their still shoeless toes.

"Where do you think our shoes went?" asked one of the Hufflepuffs.

"Dunno," said another. "But it was some really cool magic."

"I want to be a Marauder when I grow up," proclaimed a second year proudly.

Lily, Marlene and Alice could almost visibly see the boys' egos inflate.

"I loved it when there was a snowstorm in the middle of History," said a Ravenclaw fifth year girl.

"Yeah, Binns didn't even notice!" remarked another Ravenclaw.

"Now the weather charms themselves aren't incredibly complicated," began a sixth year Ravenclaw boy who was trying to impress the younger girls. "In fact they are covered in any advanced charms textbook."

"But," interrupted a sixth year girl. "The timing charms were ingenious and incredibly difficult. The same thing with the walls and floors, those charms weren't activated until everyone was in the Great Hall. And, the charms are working on and off. When I went to Charms this morning the floors were fine, but I was coming to lunch through the same hallway and slid down the whole corridor."

"I'm so glad that they put some cushioning charms on the floors," commented another Ravenclaw. "I've fallen nine times already today."

The Marauders high-fived each other; their egos were growing by the moment.

"The cushioning was my idea," Peter informed his female friends. "I fell after we put the charms down and nearly broke my nose."

"We thought that Poppy would not appreciate it if we sent half the school to her with concussions and broken bodies," said Remus.

"So we added on a few of the charms that Mrs. Potter used to cast on the whole house when we went home for the holidays," said Sirius. "She never cast them for our well-being though; she always said that it was so she and the house elves wouldn't have to spend so much time repairing the many priceless family heirlooms that we constantly knocked down when we rode our brooms in the house and ran around."

"Shhh," James hushed his friend as he tried to listen to some young Gryffindors near-by.

"Do you think they set up stuff for when we go back into the common room?" one kid asked his friend.

"Probably," the friend replied. "Remember last year when there was a monster doll that popped out at everyone who went through the portrait hole?"

"Yeah Cindy nearly wet herself."

"Who are you kidding? You were nearly in tears," teased the friend.

"So you think we should see if my brother will let us crash in his room in the Hufflepuff dorm?"

"Wait, James Potter is Head Boy; he probably knows how to get into all of the dorms."

"You're right; I bet they set traps for every common room."

"Those guys are so brilliant."

"Yeah, so brilliant that now I'm so afraid that the second I walk into any of the common rooms in the castle I'll be submerged in slime, lose my trousers, or turn blue, that I will probably sleep in the Quidditch pitch."

"You won't be any safer there," James called down the table.

The two fourth years looked up in shock when they realized that one of the Marauders had been eavesdropping on them. They were also very scared by the wide grin on James' face; it was a grin that told them nowhere was safe.

It was true; even though the boys had only had a few days to set everything up, they had been planning their seventh year pranking bonanza for years and had managed to set up pranks in almost every corner of the castle.

After lunch various magical creatures, ranging from flobberworms to armadillos to jarvies wandered the corridors. There were also Cornish pixies causing havoc in the History of Magic classroom, knarls being irksome in the Transfiguration classroom, and mokes were running amuck in the Potions rooms in the dungeons. There were also rabbits hopping around the Ancient Runes classroom, owls nesting in the Divination tower, and bowtruckles being obnoxious in Arithmancy classes.

The impressive part of this prank was that the Marauders had placed imperturbable charms on all of the creatures so that they couldn't be touched or moved. They had also put a charm on the animals that prevented them from being effected by any spells. Thus, all of the Hogwarts professors were at their wits' end only a half hour into the class period after lunch. Acting in Professor Dumbledore's place, McGonagall announced that classes for the rest of the day were canceled.

When she saw the elation on her students faces at her announcement, for the first time that day, Minerva realized that what Albus had said to her earlier that moment was true. Her students were far too serious for children and did deserve some fun. For the first time in seven years, Minerva appreciated the Marauder's antics.

Finally it was time for dinner and the Marauders were very excited for their next few pranks.

The students sat down on the benches at their house tables, excitedly whispering to one another about what might happen next. Some students cautiously poked their eating utensils, remembering when the forks turned into salamanders back in the Marauders' fifth year; others conjured umbrellas, expecting things to fall from the ceiling.

Finally the prank was revealed. Instead of chicken or steak and vegetables, ice cream of various flavors, and a wide variety of toppings appeared in the large serving bowls. The students cheered as they cast aside their forks and dinner knives in favor of their spoons. There were many calls of praise and gratitude shouted the Marauders' way as the kids and teens dug into their "dinner" with enthusiasm.

However the happiness was not long lasting. Only twenty minutes into the meal something went terribly wrong.


	30. It's Us Against the World

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Harry Potter or Harry Potter related copyrights

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Harry Potter or Harry Potter related copyrights.**

Finally the prank was revealed. Instead of chicken or steak and vegetables, ice cream of various flavors, and a wide variety of toppings appeared in the large serving bowls. The students cheered as they cast aside their forks and dinner knives in favor of their spoons. There were many calls of praise and gratitude shouted the Marauders' way as the kids and teens dug into their "dinner" with enthusiasm.

However the happiness was not long lasting. Only twenty minutes into the meal something went terribly wrong.

Mina Wettle is a Slytherin third year. She was far enough behind the Marauders that she was rarely part of the familiar group that the Marauders loved to attack, yet she had been at Hogwarts long enough to have been affected by their house-wide pranks often enough. And still she and her best friend Annie Dells, didn't hate the Marauders or Gryffindors in general. Neither of them were considering joining Voldemort and they weren't even purebloods; in fact, they were both less than halfbloods.

Mina's kind attitude towards the four Gryffindor seventh year boys changed that April first.

She was just enjoying her ice cream and chatting happily to Annie, when suddenly she felt a sharp pain on her forearm. She dropped her spoon and she shrieked in pain as she saw her dinner knife edged in blood, her blood, she soon realized as more flowed out of the shallow wound on her arm and soaked her sleeve.

Within seconds, Mina's cries were echoed around the Slytherin table. All of the knives had suddenly become animated and were now flitting around the students, inflicting the shallow cuts upon them. None of these cuts were life-threatening, but you wouldn't know that by the way the fear-filled children cried out.

The rest of the Great Hall looked on in shock, spoons frozen in midair, as the besieged students dove under the table, scrambled off the benches, tripping over each other in their haste to get away, and tried to cover their heads and faces with their arms.

The teachers leapt out of their chairs and immediately sprang into action, shouting a variety of spells. Within moments all of the knives had been frozen and the students were free from danger.

However, the night was far from over. Students everywhere were crying and clutching their cuts, having given up any pretenses of being brave and fearless in front of their peers. The teachers and Madame Pomfrey hustled down from the staff table to begin healing and comforting their bleeding charges.

By the time they had reached the students, Lily and James were already among the terrified Slytherins. Lily shouted a simple ealing charm to James as she mended the shoulder of a timid first year.

James was about to carry out Lily's instructions when his wand flew from his hand and landed firmly in Professor McGonagall's fist.

"Go to my office now Potter and if you wander elsewhere you will never graduate," she uttered, the fury evident in her tone. "That goes for you three as well," she continued as she whirled around to face the Gryffindor table and disarmed Sirius, Remus and Peter as well.

James began to protest, but before he could say a single word, McGonagall cut him off saying, "If I hear a single word out of your mouth Potter you and all of your dreams of going into the Auror Academy will be out of this school."

The Marauders needed no other warning. None of the boys could meet Lily's gaze as they practically ran from the room.

After only a moment's pause, Lily turned back to the hurt children in front of her and whispered soothing words to them, carefully healing their cuts as she went. She refused to think of anything except muttering the same charm and comforting words over and over again; she knew that if she let her thoughts wander she wouldn't make it through this ordeal.

At one point Lily was about to heal a Slytherin second year girl when Severus Snape beat her to it. Lily looked on as Snape muttered a few words to the girl and then gently rolled up her sleeve to mend her arm. Lily didn't know what Snape said to the girl, but she saw the relieved look on the child's face and she was reminded of a boy she once knew, a boy who was kind to a red headed girl in a park long ago.

After healing the girl, Severus stood up and sensing Lily's gaze, turned around. Their gazes locked. Lily quickly moved closer to Snape as she saw the numerous cuts that lined his face. Predictably, the attacks fell on him the hardest.

Severus was about to shy away from Lily's touch, but Lily grabbed his arm firmly and began to seal up the cuts.

After she was finished Severus just nodded to her; she nodded back. Then they went their separate ways.

By this time most of the Slytherins had been healed. Several of the older students from the other houses had quickly jumped in to help as soon as they recovered from their shock. Now Lily and the others were just handing out calming potions that Madame Pomfrey and some students had retrieved from the Hospital Wing.

"You'll be alright," said Lily quietly as she handed a cup to a small first year girl.

"Why did they do this to me? I never did anything to them," the young girl asked Lily, leftover tears glistening in her big brown eyes.

"Who?" asked Lily, afraid of the answer.

"Those Gryffindor boys, everyone is saying it was them, that they did it because they hate us. But what did I do to make them hate me?" The little girl's tears came freely now; she had been through a lot in the last half-hour.

"They don't hate you," said Lily.

"Come on Sylvia," said a fourth year boy as he jerked her up from the ground. "You can't trust Gryffindors," he added rudely as he led the little girl away from Lily quickly.

"Miss Evans," said Professor McGonagall stiffly as she approached Lily. "Please ask the prefects to escort all students back to their common rooms and then go up to the Headmaster's office. He should be arriving back from his meeting shortly, and when he does please inform him to meet me in my office immediately. However, do not disclose tonight's events to him; I would rather brief him myself. The password is 'Peppermint sticks'."

Lily nodded once and went off to do the Deputy Headmistress' bidding.

--

A few floors away James was anxiously pacing in McGonagall's office. Peter was sitting nervously in a stiff chair wooden chair, jumping at the slightest noise. Remus was leaning against one of the stone walls, staring out into space and trying not to think. Sirius was sitting in the chair next to Peter, his elbows resting on his thighs and his face lying on his palms.

"After all that we've done we're going to expelled a month before our N.E.WT.s for something we didn't even do," Peter said, breaking the heavy silence.

"This is going to go far beyond expulsion," Remus stated dejectedly. As much as he had tried to avoid thinking, he couldn't help it. "Those students were all bodily injured; their parents will be notified and they won't rest until the people who hurt their children are arrested and thrown into Azkaban."

"They can't do that, can they?" asked Peter nervously. Previously he had only been frightened of explaining his expulsion to his parents, now he was facing a whole new level of fear.

Sirius laughed bitterly and without mirth or warmth. "We're all of age now; we can all be arrested and tried in court. And if I know anything about Slytherin parents, they won't rest until four uppity and devilishly handsome Gryffindors such as ourselves are locked away."

"Shut it all of you," growled James. "They won't believe that we did this. We'll just explain ourselves and they'll…"

"Yeah that will work," retorted Sirius sarcastically. "Yes Professor, we pulled all sorts of pranks all day today, but no, we didn't do that last one. Yes we have done terrible and despicable things to the Slytherins over the past six years and we hate their guts, but no, we didn't try to cause them bodily harm tonight," said Sirius mockingly.

James couldn't think of anything to say in return, so he just resumed his frantic pacing.

After many more minutes of oppressive silence Professor McGonagall swept into the room and sat down behind her desk. Quickly James and Remus joined Sirius and Peter in the chairs in front of her desk.

Silence still reigned until James said, "Professor if you'll…"

"Not another syllable Potter. I don't want to have to testify against you," she said stiffly.

The silence was only broken again when the door opened to reveal Lily.

Without looking at any of her classmates, Lily said to McGonagall, "All of the students have returned to their common rooms. The fifth and sixth year prefects are stationed in their common rooms to prevent anyone from leaving and the seventh year prefects are patrolling the hallways. Professor Dumbledore also asked me to inform you that he would be down momentarily, right after he changed out of his formal robes."

"Thank you Miss Evans," said McGonagall. "You have gone above and beyond your position as Head Girl tonight and I appreciate your extra efforts. Ten points to Gryffindor."

"Thank you," said Lily as she turned to leave the office.

"Lily wait!" called James. "We didn't do it! You have to believe me!"

"Not another word Potter! Sit back down or risk expulsion here and now!" shouted Professor McGonagall simultaneously.

"Sit down James," said Lily softly as her hand rested on the doorknob. "I'll talk to you later."

Numbly James sat down and closed his eyes in defeat.

The moment Dumbledore appeared in the doorway, curiosity written in his features, McGonagall got up from her chair and the two of them went out into the Transfiguration classroom to talk privately. Although the door had been closed as well as locked, the boys could still make out a few words of Minerva's very loud tirade against them. They knew the situation wasn't promising.

"It was nice knowing ya mates," muttered Sirius.

"So… everybody up for being bums together?" asked Peter softly.

"I call a cardboard box," said Remus.

"Hope you guys will have fun on the streets without me because I am fairly sure my dad is going to kill me," said James very quietly.

"If we aren't incarcerated at that point, we'll go to your funeral," offered Peter.

There was no response because at that moment, a very serious looking Headmaster and his grave right-hand woman walked back into the office containing the very scared boys.

"I would like to talk to you each separately. I will begin with Mr. Pettigrew," said Dumbledore.

The other three boys and Professor McGonagall left a quivering Peter Pettigrew and went out into the Transfiguration classroom.

"Please describe tonight's events in your own words," requested the Headmaster in a neutral tone once the door had been closed and a silencing spell was on the room.

"During dinner some of the knives suddenly came to life and began attacking students," said Peter as he looked down at his hands in his lap. "That's all I saw, because I left the Great Hall soon after everything started."

"And was there any pattern to the students attacked?" asked Dumbledore pointedly.

"I can't be sure because I might have left before things had really ended, but from what I saw it might have been only the Slytherins. But," added Peter quickly. "I wasn't paying really close attention. Other houses might have been affected as well and I just didn't see, or maybe it happened after I left."

"I see," mused Dumbledore. "I'm going to get to the point here Peter; did you have any hand in this… incident?"

Peter put on his perfected expression of surprise. "Of course not!" he stuttered. "I, we, would never do something like that! People got really hurt!"

"Have you heard anyone else talking about who might have done this awful thing?" pressed Dumbledore.

"No," replied Peter honestly as he twisted his hands nervously. "I was just as much in shock as everyone else."

"Look at me Peter," ordered Dumbledore firmly.

Peter snapped his head up and his blue eyes met Dumbledore's. Albus stared intently at his student for a long moment and then said, "You may go into the other room now and please send Mr. Lupin in."

Peter nodded in relief and jumped out of his seat. In his haste to get out of the room Peter nearly tripped over himself and knocked a chair over. He quickly righted it and exited the office hurriedly.

Remus didn't take his eyes off of the floor as he sat down in the hot seat in front of Dumbledore.

"Your side of the story please Mr. Lupin."

Remus sighed and then began. "Well to start this all off I just want to say that I as well as James, Peter and Sirius were in no way responsible for the attack on the Slytherins tonight. What I saw was that, without any obvious keyword or anyone saying an incantation, midway through dinner knives rose into the air and began to swipe at students. There was a lot of blood, but it didn't appear that the wounds were very deep or grave. The teachers quickly got the situation under control, but many students were harmed first."

"Anything else?"

"Yes," said Remus as he looked up. "Everyone, including Professor McGonagall and probably yourself, think that we did this because of our past record. And I would just like to point out that none of our other pranks today were harmful or even specifically targeted one house. In fact, we haven't done anything nasty to the Slytherins in a long span of months and now regret the foolish and terrible things we did in years past."

"A well organized speech Mr. Lupin," commented Dumbledore.

Remus' eyes narrowed. "It's all true."

Professor Dumbledore didn't respond to Remus' comment, but instead changed the subject. "Do you have any idea of whom the blame for organizing this attack should fall upon?"

"No," said Remus curtly. He had wracked his brain while Peter had been interviewed, trying to think of who could have pulled off such an elaborate scheme, but had come up empty-handed.

"I see," said Dumbledore calmly.

Remus couldn't remember Dumbledore ever not sticking up for him and his friends, believing in their innocence even when it wasn't deserved, and giving them far less punishments than McGonagall would have liked to dish out. Then again, this time it wasn't a childish prank that was in question; students had really gotten hurt tonight and it was apparent that there were only malicious intentions behind the act.

Remus decided to try one more thing to help his case.

"Professor," began Remus slowly. "You've known me for almost seven years now. You know that even though once a month I don't care who or what I hurt and destroy, every other day of my life I am incapable of doing something like charming knives to attack innocent little kids!"

The old Headmaster sighed and then said tiredly, "I know Remus. I know you and your friends and I desperately want to believe that you had no part in this tragedy. In a short time I'm sure I will be convinced of this fact. However, I don't think that I will be able to contain this matter. I think that the Ministry will soon become involved; children as well as myself will be writing home to the parents and the parents will demand that the culprits be found and face punishment."

Remus sat dumbfounded. His worst fears were being confirmed. Everyone thought it was them; doubtless the Slytherins, especially the older ones, would write home saying that.

"I will do everything in my power to try and avoid the Ministry's involvement, but I don't think I can hold them off for long. So I suggest to you and your friends that you do some undercover work and find some evidence to use to prove your innocence," continued Dumbledore.

"If they're arrested James and Sirius will be kicked out of every auror training program before they can even start," mumbled Remus.

"That occurred to me as well," said Dumbledore sadly. "Even if they are found innocent the fact that they have some sort of record will prevent them from entering the program. I regret that I must tell you this as well, but I have to temporarily suspend you from your Prefect duties."

"James isn't going to be Head Boy anymore either," said Remus as more of a fact than a question as he took off his badge.

"I'm afraid not."

"I suppose you want to talk to Sirius or James now," said Remus, his voice cracking as he struggled to hold himself together.

"Yes, send in Sirius please," said Albus, trying to put off the worst news for last.

Sirius walking into the office with his shoulders back and his head held high. His parents would have been proud; his body language didn't convey anything except arrogance and calmness. This was Sirius' fallback behavior; when everything was falling apart he retreated to the basics, what he had been taught since he could walk.

Before his Headmaster could get in a single word Sirius said, "We didn't do it and I don't know who did but I will find out and they will pay."

"Please take a seat Mr. Black."

"I don't see the need; I have just given you all the information I have."

Albus calmly surveyed the surly teen over his glasses. "You can't think of anyone who would do this to get you in trouble?"

Sirius almost laughed. "I can think of more people in that category than I have fingers and toes. The question is just which one, and as I said earlier, I intend to find out."

Then Sirius turned around and made to leave. His hand was on the doorknob when Dumbledore's voice startled him.

"What will you do when the Ministry comes to interview you? They may not understand your surliness and unwillingness to cooperate. Most likely they will see you as just another Black, rude, superior and not afraid to flirt with the lines of madness, legality, and cruelty. Being identified with your family, especially at this time in the war, will not help you."

Sirius gripped the doorknob much tighter than was necessary.

"I will not let some snot-nosed Voldemort worshipper ruin my future or my friends' futures. Especially not James'," as Sirius brought up his surrogate brother his tone shifted from loud and furious to soft and contemplative. "He's wanted to be an auror since before I met him. He's always wanted to be the Head Auror. Did you know that not one Potter has ever been Head Auror? Out of almost one hundred of 'em not one has gotten to the top.

"And Remus. He's going to have a hard enough time finding and keeping a job as it is. He was rejected from the Auror and Healing Academies only a few weeks after he applied, while the rest of us still haven't gotten notice about our acceptances. Having a criminal record will make things almost impossible for him.

"And then there's Peter. His poor mother will have a nervous breakdown when she hears about this. She's always dreamed of him being Minister of Magic one day…"

"Send Mr. Potter in please," said Dumbledore once Sirius' voice had trailed off.

Sirius just nodded once, built his walls back up and marched proudly into the Transfiguration classroom. There he just looked at James once and nodded. Words weren't needed.

James sighed and slowly got up from his desk. He walked to the office with the weight of the world, and all of his hopes and dreams on his shoulders. The many questions and worries that were flying around his brain had completely drained him of his usual energy and cockiness. He knew he couldn't just talk or smile his way out of this one.

James made it to the office and even managed to slump into a chair without breaking down; he thought he was doing rather well.

"Mr. Potter," began Dumbledore unsurely. He didn't want to hurt the distressed teen in front of him, but it was his duty to inform him of the situation. "A serious crime was committed tonight; and so I must inform the Ministry and also the parents of the threatened students. Most likely this will result in a full-scale investigation. As of right now you and your friends are the only suspects and many people are convinced of your guilt already. I believe that you are innocent, but soon this will be out of my hands and my opinion won't matter."

"I understand Professor," said James maturely.

"There is one more matter I must tell you about. I'm afraid that I must confiscate your Head Boy badge. For the time being I'm afraid that you won't be able to enjoy any of your privileges or carry out any of your duties. Unless Miss Evans has need of a partner to help her with the duties, I won't appoint someone to replace you."

For a moment James just stared at Professor Dumbledore. He knew that it was possible he might have his badge taken away, but the reality was so much worse. Numbly he struggled to unpin the badge from his robes. With shaking fingers he finally got it undone and placed the badge on the desk in front of him next to Remus'.

"I hope you understand James. I can't have a student in a position of authority when other students think that he might try to hurt them."

"You know I wouldn't do something like this, right Professor?" asked James, his voice pleading for Dumbledore to trust him.

"I would very much like to believe that Mr. Potter," replied Dumbledore. "Please ask Professor McGonagall to come in now. We must discuss what is to be done with the four of you."

Too tired to fight James just got up and went to deliver the message and then went to sit with his friends. No one spoke a word; they were all too caught up in their own concerns and burdens.

Some time later, none of the boys could really be sure how long they had been sitting in silence, the two Professors emerged from the office.

"We have decided that the four of you will return to your dormitory tonight, and only to your dormitory. Any side trips will result in immediate expulsion. Tomorrow, Professor McGonagall will escort you from your dormitory to this classroom at six a.m. The House Elves will bring you breakfast here," Professor McGonagall told them sternly. "You will spend the entire day in detention under my supervision. We will see where things go from there. Now I will escort you back to Gryffindor Tower."

As expected the journey was a miserable one. Once McGonagall locked the boys in their dormitory their moods didn't improve. They mechanically went through the steps and got ready for bed. Then they all lay down on their respective beds and tried not to let their pain and fears crush them like boulders.

"Prongs?" asked Peter.

"Yeah Wormtail?" answered James quietly.

"I don't want to go to Azkaban."

James chuckled a little, except it sounded more like he was choking on his own saliva. "Me neither. We'll make it out of this guys; we're survivors."

"I think we finally found our match," said Remus glumly.

"Maybe," answered James. He couldn't work up much more hope than that.

"At least we'll all be in Azkaban together," said Sirius, speaking up for the first time. "Do you think they'll let us share a cell?"

"Then it wouldn't be so different from now," said James.

Remus said pessimistically, "Except we'd probably be sleeping on the cold stone floor."

"And we'd only get gray mush for every meal," contributed Peter.

"And we would all have to share a toilet," added Sirius.

"Oh the horror!" quipped James. "Not that!"

Even though it was dark in the room, James could tell that his friends were smiling.

"No matter what we'll still be the Marauders," said Sirius after a brief silence. "No one and nothing can ever change that."

"Good night my felon brothers," joked James.

"Sleep tight and don't let the dementors bite," said Remus.

"See you guys in the morning," said Peter with a yawn. His bed squeaked as he rolled over onto his side.

Soon James could hear Remus and Sirius getting comfortable in their beds as well, and before he knew it he could hear their even breathing and Peter's snoring and he was left alone with his troubles. However he was not truly alone. Only five minutes after Remus had drifted off into sleep the door to the boys' dormitory opened and light spilled into the room, illuminating James' bed which was closest.

Squinting because of the sudden light and his lack of glasses, James struggled to see who the visitor was.

"Lily?" he asked in a whisper.

The figure closed the door behind herself and walked over to James bed. She sat down at the edge and handed James his glasses from his nightstand.

"How'd you get in here? McGonagall put like ten spells on that door to keep us in here," said James.

"She put spells on to make sure you couldn't get out, but she didn't do anything to prevent other people from coming in," answered Lily.

"So how are you going to get out of here then?" asked James with a smirk.

That stopped Lily in her tracks. Sheepishly she admitted, "I guess I didn't think that part through."

"I'm glad you're here though," James told her.

When Peter started to stir in his sleep, James pulled the curtains around his bed and put a soundproof charm on them. Lily readjusted herself so that now she was totally inside the small space.

"Why are you here though?" James wanted to know.

"I told you I would come and talk to you."

"I didn't think you would. You seemed so… mad at me back in the Transfiguration classroom," said James softly.

Lily paused for a moment and then admitted, "I was kind of upset, maybe even angry at first. But then I finally took some time and thought about it."

"And?"

Lily scooted across the bed and sat up against the headboard next to James. "I realized that I know you and I know that you aren't an evil person. So if you tell me that you didn't do it, I'll believe you wholeheartedly."

"I didn't have any part in the attack on the Slytherins last night and neither did any of the other Marauders," stated James firmly.

"Okay then. Case closed," said Lily as she put her head on James' shoulder.

"Not quite," sighed James. "We still don't know who did it or really even why."

"But that doesn't matter. If they can't prove it was you then you can't get in trouble."

"Too late for that," muttered James.

Lily sat upright. "What happened?"

"I'm not Head Boy anymore."

"Oh Merlin," said Lily in disbelief.

"Dumbledore said it's only a matter of time before the Ministry gets involved. There will be an investigation and everyone they talk too will tell them that the Marauders are responsible," predicted James.

"It will be okay," Lily tried to reassure James.

"No Lily, I don't think it will. My parents are going to kill me for this, and even if they didn't I might as well die with my dreams of becoming an Auror," James told her.

Lily settled her head on James' shoulder again and began to soothingly run her hand over his arm lightly.

"I know this isn't much of a consolation, but I'll still love you no matter what happens."

James breathed deeply, inhaling the scent of Lily's shampoo. It was a comforting smell, not one of those really girly fruity scents; it just smelled like shampoo.

"This might go very badly," James whispered. He was afraid to talk any louder because he was sure that Lily would be able to hear the fear in his voice then.

"We'll get through it," Lily said confidently as she craned her neck to look at her distraught boyfriend.

James was suddenly struck by how Lily referred to his problem by saying that _they_ would get through it. He often thought of them as a team, them against the world, but he had no idea Lily felt the same way.

"We?" he asked before he had time to think about it more.

Lily blushed and broke eye contact with James. "Well sure," she stammered. "I mean… I thought… well of course I'll try and help you… and the other guys…"

"I love you Lily Evans," James whispered into her ear.

"I love you too James Potter."

For a few moments the couple just sat in an easy silence. James was concentrating solely on playing with Lily's hair, but her thoughts were going a kilometer a minute.

"Are you scared?" Lily eventually asked.

James' fingers paused and shakily he answered, "More so than I have ever been in my life. Well except for that time you were captured by Death Eaters… and when Moony was attacking you… and when Sirius was really hurt that other full moon… and just about every time my dad gets called in to go fight… and that time when I was five and my uncle told me that there were giants under my bed…"

Lily didn't laugh at James' attempt to lighten the situation. "You don't have to pretend to be brave with me James."

"I don't know what else to do; pretending is all I have left. I feel as if I'm going to fall into a thousand pieces. How can a life fall apart in one minute because of one thing? It doesn't seem possible," moaned James.

"It will get better James…"

James interrupted Lily, "No Lily, this can't possibly get any better. My life is over. I can't handle this!"

"Shhh…" said Lily soothingly as she wrapped her arms around James' torso.

"I wish I would just die in my sleep tonight!" proclaimed James dramatically as he fought the feelings and the tears that were finally coming to the surface. "I don't think I can face tomorrow or any of the days after it."

"Look at me James!" commanded Lily when James turned his head away from her so that she wouldn't see the tears he could no longer hold back. "First off, you can cry in front of me; I don't think any less of you as a man, boyfriend or person. And secondly you are James Christopher Potter. You **will** get through this and everything will be okay."

"It won't! My parents will hate me, no one will ever hire me, that is if I **don't** go to Azkaban, and you'll find someone else who isn't a convict or a bum on the streets."

"I refuse to argue with you when you are so clearly being irrational," said Lily stubbornly.

"I am not being irrational! Every school vacation my dad would lecture me about all the pranks I pulled and the detentions I got and then he would tell me that I had better not do anything stupid enough to land myself in Azkaban because he wouldn't even try to stop his coworkers from locking me up forever," said James brokenly.

Lily smiled at James softly. "There isn't anything you could ever do that would make your parents love you any less. They love you a lot more than you realize; as an outsider looking in I was blown away by their affection for you. Your dad probably only told you that stuff because he was angry and he wanted to scare you into not getting into trouble anymore. He would combust before he could ever disown you or hate you."

"He's going to jump to conclusions and he won't even let me explain," said James bitterly. "He never listens to me."

"But your mum listens to you and your dad listens to your mum, so that will all work out," said Lily logically.

"I just don't think I can face tomorrow. The best part of it will be the all-day detention with McGonagall who thinks that we're all evil murderers," said James as he finally re-collected himself and wiped his eyes dry.

"There have been many, many nights where I have kept myself awake thinking the exact same thing, but I've discovered that no matter how much you wish the sun just won't rise again, it always does. And somehow, although it might not seem like it will ever happen, the sun sets again and you've gotten through the day. Just take it one day at a time and you'll be fine," advised Lily in a soft voice.

After she yawned, James asked, "So how are you getting out of here again?"

"Fly out the window?" asked Lily tiredly.

"No can do, McGonagall locked those too, even the ones in the bathroom."

"I guess I'll just have to stay then," said Lily without any disappointment whatsoever as she made herself more comfortable on James' bed.

"And what exactly is McGonagall going to say when she finds you here tomorrow morning?" wondered James as he settled down next to his girlfriend and pulled the blanket up to cover her as well.

"Dunno, don't care," said Lily as she yawned again.

"Use the invisibility cloak," said James. "And sneak out behind us. It's just underneath my mattress on your side of the bed."

"Okay," said Lily sleepily. "Sounds like a good plan. Try and get some sleep. I love you."

"I love you too," James whispered into Lily's ear. Then he kissed the top of her head and put his arm around her waist.

"Ummm… hang on a second," murmured Lily. She slipped out from under James' arm and off of the bed. After a minute she scurried back under the covers with far less clothing.

"You're driving me crazy here Lily," moaned James as his body responded to the fact that his girlfriend was only wearing very short shorts and a tank top. "This got us in trouble last time, remember?"

"I remember it all being worth it," said Lily.

"Why do you wear shorts under your uniform anyways?" asked James curiously.

"It's a habit. I think all the girls in our year and the years around us started wearing shorts after you immature boys started using magic to get our skirts to blow upwards so you could see our knickers," explained Lily.

"Did you hide your clothes?"

"I shoved them under the bed."

"Good."

"Now get some sleep."

"I'm not making any promises."

Lily didn't respond and James could feel her breathing become shallow and even. Surprisingly, by thinking only of the strangely intoxicating scent of Lily's shampoo, James was able to drift off into a somewhat peaceful sleep. However, the following day was anything but peaceful.


	31. Good Morning Beautiful

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Harry Potter or Harry Potter related copyrights.**

"Since when does Prongs close the curtains around his bed?" Sirius groggily asked Remus as they slowly dragged themselves out of bed the following morning at the ungodly hour of 5:45 a.m..

"He never does that," said Remus suspiciously as he rubbed the sleep put of his eyes. "Hmm…"

"Do you think we should check it out?" asked Sirius with a smirk on his face; usually he would be dead this early in the morning, but the mystery of James' sleeping situation was invigorating him.

Remus grinned back, temporarily distracted from the pain of the day. "I think for all of our sakes we should see what exactly is behind those curtains. Could be a monster you know."

"On the count of three," whispered Sirius as he and Remus approached James' curtains.

No matter what they had been expecting to see behind the curtains around their roommate's bed, Lily was not been on that list.

"Oh man! James!" groaned Remus. "Mate! This totally goes beyond all boundaries!"

Sirius laughed and said, "I thought you loved the girl, and yet you willingly subject her to the sight of Peter walking out of the loo naked and wet like he does every morning because he always forgets to bring his clothes in with him?"

"Good morning to you guys too," said Lily as she stretched her arms over her head.

"Hey Lily what are you doing here… so early in the morning… in James' bed… next to him… with very little clothes on…" Peter gulped.

"I don't know Wormtail," said Sirius sarcastically. "I think she's having a cup of tea. Idiot! What does it look like she's doing?!"

"Oh thank Merlin you're dressed," Remus breathed in relief as he looked over at Peter.

"Now that you fine blokes have had your say, if you could kindly close the curtains and be on your merry ways, I would be most grateful because I was having a very nice time before you butted in," said James, who still had an arm around Lily and his eyes closed.

"I should get up anyways," said Lily as she slipped out of her boyfriend's embrace. "Before McGonagall gets here and finds me."

James groaned as Lily left his side in favor of the loo.

"Damn," muttered Peter appreciatively as he watched Lily walk away.

Sirius and Remus looked at Peter in surprise. Peter shrugged and said," What?"

"I believe that they are referring to the fact that you were just blatantly drooling over my girlfriend," said James evenly. "That's one of those boundaries that just shouldn't be crossed."

"Let's talk about some other boundaries that shouldn't be crossed," said Remus.

"Like letting Lily into our dorm without telling us," stated Sirius as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"We know that you love her and stuff… but could you at least warn us or something?" asked Peter.

"She came in late last night and she would have left except she was locked in just like the rest of us. She doesn't always think everything through you know," explained James calmly. "And although it's none of your business, we just talked and fell asleep. Now I suppose that I had better get dressed and get the cloak for Lily before…"

Then there came a knock at the door and a stern call, "This is Professor McGonagall and I am here to escort you to my classroom where you will spend the remainder of the day. I am now unlocking the door so you had better all be… decent."

"Crap," said James as he glanced to the closed bathroom door. Quickly he sprang out of bed, grabbed his invisibility cloak and bundled it into a pile with his uniform, which he picked up off of the floor.

"Morning Professor," greeted James sheepishly as the Transfiguration teacher strode into the room. "I'm just going to get dressed and then I'll be ready to go."

"Hurry up," said McGonagall curtly.

"Sure, I'm just going to go into the loo and put on my uniform and then I'll be right back," said James loudly as he approached the bathroom.

He slowly turned the knob then opened the door as narrowly as he could and slipped inside. Once inside he put a finger to his lips and threw his cloak to Lily. Luckily Lily had finished her business in the loo before James had entered. As Lily put on the cloak, James put his wrinkled uniform on over his pajamas, which consisted of a pair of boxers and a tee-shirt.

"You ready?" James whispered to a seemingly empty room.

The only response he received was a light hand squeeze.

"Alright then," sighed James. The emotional high he had been on since he had woken up to the sight of his girlfriend was now rapidly wearing off.

When James reentered his bedroom the change in atmosphere was apparent; the joking attitude had been replaced by harsh realism.

"Let's go then," said McGonagall sharply as she turned and left the room.

The four Marauders and the invisible Lily silently filed out behind her. At the bottom of the stairs Lily slipped her hand out from James' and moved away from the disheartened group; James felt the last bit of hope and happiness leave him.

For the rest of the day the boys were stuck in McGonagall's locked office copying various lines hundreds of times. After every class period the stern professor would check up on them and around lunch the house elves brought them some provisions. All of the boys felt as if they were in prison already. They couldn't believe that they were getting blamed for such an atrocious act that they didn't commit. On the other side of the castle a small group of students were grinning madly and toasting each other's brilliance. A couple of corridors and a staircase away, another group was feeling on edge and guilty.

Up in Gryffindor Tower there was mass confusion and unease. All around the common room were small groups whispering to each other and constantly glancing toward three seventh year girls who were sitting by the fire and trying to pretend that everything was okay. They had textbooks and parchment in front of them, but none of them were doing anything except staring off into space desperately trying to find some way to help their friends.

"There are aurors in the entrance hall!" announced a winded fourth year Gryffindor as he stumbled into the common room.

All talk ceased and heads instantly turned to stare at the boy.

"A whole team of them!" added the boy's friend.

Alice, Marlene, and Lily dropped their textbooks as if they were blast-ended skrewts and ran out of the common room. After their departure the whispering was renewed with a frantic new energy.

The auror team arrived at the castle ten minutes before the fourth years came across them.

"I don't feel right about this Harris," said an experienced auror by the name of Tom Dardani. "You can't go behind Potter's back like this. He's the Captain."

"And I am second in command, empowered to act as the Captain when the Captain is unable to adequately perform his duties," stated Frederick Harris pompously.

"But there isn't anything wrong with Potter," argued Dardani.

"His son is one of the suspects; you can't expect him to be impartial, therefore he is unable to do his job satisfactorily and I must take over."

"But we should have at least told him about this; you know he'll find out about it eventually, and he doesn't tolerate betrayal well," continued Dardani.

"He won't find out if no one tells him," said Harris threateningly as he glared at each of the aurors on the squad in turn.

"You'll find Harris that there are a great many people in the department who are more loyal to me than you are and were more than happy to inform me of the mutiny you were trying to stage today," Christopher Potter firmly informed his lieutenant.

Any man less than a seasoned auror would have quaked at the sight of a livid Christopher Potter. He stood as straight as a rod, every muscle tensed, and his wand fixed firmly in his iron grip. However, these details could not possibly compare with the fear his face instilled in his opponents. His jaw was clenched, his eyebrows furrowed, and the rage was clearly visible in his dark brown eyes. It was no wonder Lily left James' house so quickly on Christmas morning; Christopher Potter could be downright scary when he wanted to be.

"Captain," said Harris with the air of a small child you has just been caught stealing from the cookie jar before supper. "You know that you can't be unbiased in this case; I thought I would spare you the pain of dealing with it at all."

"Regardless Harris," spat Potter. "It is not within your authority to decide that you can just take over an assignment without me. You can be sure I will be filing a report about this."

"That is if you're allowed to return to work," said Harris with a smirk. "Your only son is suspected of attacking students; that sort of behavior is not natural, it is learned."

If three aurors had not anticipated their Captain's action, Potter would have lunged at Harris and engaged him in a viscous duel. Luckily for all concerned, he was stopped before it came to that.

"Pull yourself together Potter," advised one of his comrades in a fierce whisper as he shoved Potter back and away from Harris.

"Good evening gentlemen," said Dumbledore in his serene voice. "Thank you for responding so quickly."

The aurors all murmured various greetings to their former transfiguration professor.

"How are you going to proceed with the investigation?" Dumbledore questioned Frederick Harris, the man who had sent an owl responding to his call.

"Well Dumbledore, numerous parents have contacted my department with theories about the culprits and it seems that they, and their children, have drawn the same conclusions as your staff," began Harris.

Dumbledore interjected at this point, "I would just like to make it known that neither I nor any member of the staff have made any conclusive judgments on this matter. We have discussed it and found that there was not enough evidence to draw any sort of conclusion. We simply endeavored to alleviate the fears of the students, which as you have so aptly pointed out, were directed towards four students in particular."

"Where are the boys now?" asked Mr. Potter. He somehow kept his voice completely emotionless.

"As they have been all day, they are locked in Professor McGonagall's office, under constant supervision," replied Dumbledore.

Desperate to regain control of the situation, Harris broke in and said, "We would like to begin this process by interviewing the students who were present at the attack."

"So all of them then?" asked Dumbledore with the faintest glimmer of humor in his tone.

"Perhaps just the victims then."

"That would result in a terribly skewed perception of the events considering that they were all attacked and thus just obviously would be inclined to exaggerate in order to get revenge on those they presume were behind their pain."

"Well, we can't very well interview each and every student!"

"Nor can you only interview a select few."

"How many students are currently enrolled in Hogwarts?" asked Potter thoughtfully.

"292," replied Dumbledore.

"If ten of us were to interrogate the students, each interview lasting an average of five minutes, it would take 144 minutes, nearly two and a half hours, for us to finish. Meanwhile the eleventh auror could interrogate and guard the four suspects. I, because of my bias, will not take an active role in this investigation, though I reserve my rights as Captain of this squad. If, for any reason, any of you think I am operating under a bias of any sort please inform me directly and we will take the proper measures to resolve the issue," said Christopher in a commanding way.

Potter looked each of his men in the eye to ensure they had an understanding and then continued with his plan. "Professor, may I request the use of ten classrooms spaced well apart?"

"Of course, I am at your service," said Dumbledore agreeably.

"To keep any one auror from getting a one dimensional view of the events I will randomly assign students of various ages and houses to each auror. To do this I would like to assemble all of the students in the Great Hall, immediately if possible."

"Certainly, I will just… well how convenient, here comes the Head Girl now," said Dumbledore as he saw Lily, flanked by her two friends walking slowly down the hallway, trying to pretend as if they were by coincidence. "I will have her go to each of the common rooms and enlist the help of the prefects while I inform the teachers of this update."

And so the investigation proceeded. Each student was interviewed but very little insight was gained. In the end, many of the students' conjectures reflected their house loyalties. Naturally Gryffindors, when pressed, bravely defended their own. The majority of Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs also decided to defend the four Marauders, vouching for their characters and claiming that they had not been given even the slightest hint that the boys had taken any part whatsoever in the attack. Predictably the Slytherin victims viscously decried James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter.

After the individual investigations were finished Christopher Potter decided to address the entire student body.

"Students, each of you have talked to an auror within the last couple of hours. We thank all of you for your cooperation. I would like to assure you that we believe there is no threat to your safety, but to assuage the fears that many of you have expressed we are going to post an auror in each of your common rooms and two in the Great Hall during meals for the next couple of days, until this whole matter is resolved and everyone feels comfortable. If anyone has any more information please speak to a teacher or auror. I hope that you understand that you could shatter or salvage many futures with your input. You may now return to your common rooms," said Mr. Potter clearly and forcefully.

After the students had left with their auror guardians, a committee made up of the teachers, remaining aurors and Dumbledore met to decide what should be done.

"I apologize for this Christopher," prefaced an auror named Jack Timbeault who had been a close friend of Christopher since he met him on their first day of school. "But numerous students, especially the younger ones, have expressed a lot of fear concerning their safety while your son and his friends are still in the school. It seems as though a great deal of rumors have been spread throughout the school; I'm sure you remember how exaggerated stories got when we were at Hogwarts. I'm afraid that my recommendation is that the boys be suspended until all of this is cleared up."

Another auror Patrick Jinner, who had been only a couple of years below Christopher in school and had been a Slytherin, also said his piece. "I would like to further suggest that the four kids be placed under house arrest, to alleviate the fears of the parents. The department received nearly a hundred letters, visits, and floo calls from concerned parents today."

"These are very serious actions," said another auror, Hank Sputter. "If we placed the boys under house arrest that would be seen as an action taken against criminals; it would be put on their records and most likely exclude Christopher's son from the auror program."

"Now, Hank, we can't make special allowances for James because Christopher's son," said Jose Fernandes.

"Don't be like that Jose; we are know you have been trying to get James arrested since he charmed your daughter's hair pink right before she met the Minister five years ago at the auror ball," said Donny Harington, an auror who said little but saw everything and always told it like he saw it.

Defensively Jose replied, "All I'm saying is that we can't ignore out duty so that we keep Christopher's kid's record clean."

"Gentlemen, may I take this opportunity to point out the fact that throughout this conversation you have referred to James, Sirius, Remus and Peter as "boys" or "kids". They may be of adult age, but really they aren't much more than boys. I don't believe that any of my students are the hardened criminals you are trying to make the four boys out to be, so even if they were the culprits, I believe that you are handing them a punishment that doesn't suit the crime," said Dumbledore sagely.

"Also, may I remind you that there hasn't been any conclusive evidence to incriminate them. It would be terrible if their futures were ruined because of hasty decision making," said Professor McGonagall.

"I would just like to say," began Slughorn loudly and pompously. If the other teachers were going to have a say then so was he. "That Mr. Potter and his friends are among my finest students. They may like to joke around and get a few laughs, but it is all in good fun. I suspect that, over the years, most of their antics have been designed to impress Lily Evans, who is one of the best students I have ever had the privilege of teaching."

"I interviewed her I believe," said Jack as he flipped through his notes. "A lovely young woman, who is now dating your son, right Christopher?"

"Yes, has been for some time now," said Christopher emotionlessly.

"It is interesting that many of the Slytherin students told me that she began healing their wounds almost immediately after they had been inflicted," mused Patrick, the former Slytherin. "It could seem that she was prepared for the attack. Perhaps her dear boyfriend told her of it and powerless to stop it, she did what she could to help in the aftermath?"

"Auror Jinner," began Professor Dumbledore tensely. "Miss Evans is a very talented and honorable young witch, and an asset to my school. She has never and would never hesitate to stop any action which she considered wrong. In fact she has, over the past seven years, chastised and put a stop to a great many of Mr. Potter's pranks. I have no doubt that if Mr. Potter was the originator of this act and had informed her of it beforehand, she wouldn't have wasted I am extremely grateful that she reacted so quickly to the events of that night in question, but ask that you refrain from trying to involve her in some sort of grand conspiracy theory."

"My apologies," muttered Patrick.

"I think I have a solution," offered Auror Potter. "I understand that many of the students many be scared of what might happen to them; I have no doubt that the fear they have about the current situation outside of Hogwarts' walls mixed with the embellished stories that are being spread around have them quite on edge. If this is agreeable to Professor Dumbledore I would have the four suspects suspended. To ease the concerns' of the parents I would suggest that the four boys all be house-bound, though not placed under official house arrest. I am willing to host the four boys at my home and take a few personal days to supervise them. Also, to avoid any possible claims that I am biased, I would like to host two other aurors of a committee's choosing to also guard the boys. This would avoid having our numbers stretched among four houses when there are far better things we could be doing."

After a few moments of contemplation, Jack spoke, "I think that this is the best solution. I see no problem with it."

All of the other aurors voiced similar opinions.

"I also find this solution the best, as long as the boys keep up with their studies of course," Dumbledore added with his customary twinkle in his eye.

"Do you think Marilyn would have it any other way?" asked Christopher with a smile. "It was lucky for the boys that I opened the post this morning and read the letter you sent last night."

"I was wondering how you had found out about the case," said Jack. "I would have told you myself if I didn't know that you weren't told already."

Christopher's face darkened, "I'll deal with Harris later. He has been after my job for far too long, and he has finally taken it too far."

"Minerva, would you please lead Auror Potter and Auror Timbeault to your office. They can escort the boys to their dormitory to pack and then bring them to the Potter home," requested Professor Dumbledore.

"Of course," said Minerva curtly.

"I can't wait to see the look on James' face when he sees you," Jack said jovially. "He must know that he's in for it this time!"

"Just wait until his mother seems him home for spring break two weeks early," Christopher joked back. "I will certainly be on the other side of the house during that great explosion."

"If I were James I would never put a toe out of line for fear of you or Marilyn finding out; it's amazing that James hasn't been scared to death yet," remarked Jack. "The two of you are pretty darn frightening when you're mad."

"Marilyn can never stay mad at James for long though and she always has the house elves bake him a chocolate cake after she yells at him. Her anger is very passionate but doesn't last long."

"And then there is your anger which seems to last forever without burning out," commented Jack.

"True, but James is the exception. No matter what he does I can't stay mad at him for long."

"Who could? Firstly he's your only son; next he is far too much like you for you to stay mad at him and not feel like a hypocrite, and finally I must admit, that boy of yours has charisma. I think he could talk his way out of going to Azkaban if this whole thing took a turn for the worst."

"Merlin knows he's talked his way out of weeks worth of detention here," muttered Minerva, who had been eavesdropping the whole time.

"I apologize for all the problems my son has caused you over the years," said Christopher seriously.

"While your son and his friends have pushed me to my breaking point several times over the past seven years, I have enjoyed teaching them and I will miss them when they graduate. They have brought a lot of life into this old castle and I can't imagine life without their loud laughter and inventive pranks. Not that I would ever tell them that of course," finished the teacher quickly.

"Of course not," said Christopher with a smile.

His smile quickly faded as the trio filed into the transfiguration classroom and then into McGonagall's office. All four boys and their guardian, Mr. Filch, looked up at the sudden opening of the door. Mr. Filch's face was the only one that did not instantly pale at the arrival of the guests.

"You four, pack you bags, you will be staying at Potter Manor for the foreseeable future," Professor McGonagall told them sternly. "Auror Potter and Timbeault will escort you to your dormitory to get your things and then you will depart immediately afterwards. While you are away you will be expected to keep up with all of your schoolwork. Are we clear?"

"Yes m'am," said the boys dejectedly.

They got up and follower Jack and Christopher out of the office and to Gryffindor Tower in absolute silence. When they entered the common room, all activity instantly stopped and everyone turned to stare at the Marauders. They just looked at the carpet, refusing to meet anyone's eyes and mutely went up to their dormitory.

Lily, Alice and Marlene exchanged worried glances as they watched their friends go upstairs and then come down again shortly afterwards with their trunks. Lily forgot how to breathe as she watched them come down the staircase in horror. Like her classmates she thought the Marauders had been expelled. As he walked across the common room, James' glance found Lily and he shook his head "no." He hoped that he was answering the silent question "were you expelled?" and not "am I ever going to see you again?" or something like that.

Only seconds after Peter's trunk was dragged through the portrait hole, Lily, Alice and Marlene were deluged by the gossip-thirsty students of Gryffindor Tower. The auror posted in the corner of the common room didn't do anything to control the situation.

"We don't know anything!" Marlene shouted finally. "All we know is what you know! So stop pestering us and get your own lives!"

Still the crowd did not budge or stop yelling questions at the three girls.

"Go to your dormitories before I give all of you detention!" yelled the irate Head Girl.

"You can't do that," stated a haughty sixth year.

"Don't test my patience Cromwell," Lily growled. "I've had a very long and trying day and if you don't get out of my way so I can find out what is happening to my boyfriend I will probably skip the detention and just hex you instead!"

After this the mob parted and let the girls through. They lost no time in running out of the common room and to the entrance hall to catch up with the boys. Luckily the boys had to stop in the entrance hall, so the girls had plenty of time to catch up with them.

"We decided that Miller, Dardani, Jinner, and Harris will be posted in the common rooms, Sputter and Fernandes in the Great Hall during meals and patrolling the hallways during the rest of the day, Artens and Fengle will guard the boys at Potter Manor, and Timbeault, Jockham and I will continue the investigation," Harington informed Jack and Christopher as they approached with the boys in tow.

"Now these four boys don't exactly look like mass murders to me," said Hank Sputter jokingly. "They seem more like Quidditch players than dark wizards."

No one laughed, but the boys did manage wan smiles.

"Right then, now that everything is settled we should be on our way," said Auror Artens.

"Sir, could we possibly have just a moment to say good-bye to our friends first?" asked Sirius daringly.

Artens, who was young and still remembered his schoolboy crushes, nodded indulgently as he saw the three "friends" of the boys racing down the stairs.

James let his trunk down on the ground as Lily raced to him. He knew her so well that she didn't even have to ask him a question, he could read it on her face.

"We're just suspended for now; until the end of the investigation we're all staying at my house," said James in a low tone.

"Thank Merlin," breathed Lily as she hugged James tightly. He hugged her back just as tightly.

"I'll miss you," said James as he loosened his grip enough to be able to look Lily in the face.

"I'll miss you too," said Lily as he eyes roamed all over James' face, memorizing every detail. "I love you."

"I love you too," said James, and then, even though he knew his father was probably watching, he kissed Lily. The kiss was brief and not overly nauseating for spectators, but very passionate.

"I'll miss this," James whispered in Lily's ear. "Write to me?"

"Constantly," promised Lily. "Lots of perfumed notes to make the aurors reading your mail gag."

"These days without you are going to be torture," James said into Lily's hair as he breathed in her scent. "But luckily I have some fond memories of this morning to help me through the tough times."

Lily grinned as James released her from his embrace completely and grabbed his trunk to join the waiting aurors and his friends. Lily waved good-bye to the four boys until they had gone into the waiting carriages and disappeared down the road to Hogsmeade where they would apparate to the edge of Potter Manor.

"Merlin I'm going to miss that boy," Lily uttered quietly to the retreating carriages. A single tear dripped down her cheek; she cried for herself and she cried for the Marauders and all that they might lose.


	32. Hiding in the Restricted Section

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Harry Potter or Harry Potter related copyrights.**

**A/N Please read the note at the end of this chapter.**

"Shh!" hissed James when Sirius dumped his trunk on the marble floor of the entrance hall. "You don't want to wake my mum. Her wrath is going to be bad enough with a full night's sleep; we don't want to be on the receiving end of her anger when she's tired and cranky."

Sirius nodded very solemnly; Mrs. Potter had yelled at him extensively after he had disappeared to Lily's house the previous summer and he certainly did not want to experience that again.

Then Peter had to go and ruin it all. Lagging behind the others he did not hear James' warning, and so he stomped into the hall and dropped his trunk with a resounding bang. The other three boys cringed as the sounds echoed throughout the hall and the house.

"Peter you great bloody fool!" hissed Sirius.

"Christopher, is that you?" Marilyn Potter sleepily called.

"Now you've done it!" said James under his breath. "No, mum, it's me," he said with a defeated air.

"James?" asked Marilyn, who was very confused. She appeared at the top of the stairs in a classy silk bathrobe.

"Sorry to wake you mum," James began.

"What are you doing home?" asked Mrs. Potter surveying the boys and their trunks, but still not making the connection quite yet. "James Christopher Potter were you expelled?! James! I can't believe you got yourself expelled only two months before you graduate! How could you be so stupid? What the hell did you do?!"

"Mum, just let me explain," said James. "Please, it's not what you think. Just like on Christmas morning," he added as it appeared that she wasn't going to listen.

"Okay James," sighed Marilyn as she descended. "Let's go to the kitchen and discuss this over some chocolate cake; the house elves made some last week for your father after we had an argument. Why don't the rest of you go settle into your usual rooms; I'm sure James will tell you all about it after."

Then Christopher walked in; he had stayed behind a minute to give the aurors further instructions. "Shhh…" he whispered to the two aurors following him. "We don't want to wake my wife; she's a right sight when… hello dear."

"Hello Christopher, I'll speak with you when I'm through with James," said Marilyn firmly as she led James toward the kitchen.

-----

"Prongs?" asked Sirius half-asleep as he blearily looked at his best mate in the darkness of his bedroom. "What on earth are you doing?"

"Uhh…" said James as he stopped rummaging through Sirius' trunk and looked at Sirius. "This is your trunk? Could have sworn this was my trunk…"

"Your trunk is in your room; my trunk is in my room, which is this room, which is not your room, I think," were the words which sprang from Sirius' mouth, the product of his tired and not fully functioning brain.

"So it is," said James. "I'll just be on my way then. See you in the morning!"

Sirius mumbled something and then happily laid back down in his bed and fell asleep. Once Sirius' breathing became shallow and even James resumed his search through Sirius' trunk, though this time he did so much more quietly. Finally James found what he was looking for, the mirror he and Sirius used to communicate with each other. James grabbed the mirror and slipped out of Sirius' room and crept back into his own room, skillfully avoiding the squeaky boards outside of the aurors' bedrooms.

"Lily Evans," said James clearly to the mirror as he sat on his bed. "Lily!" hissed James the image in the mirror was just of the red curtains around Lily's four poster bed.

Lily groaned and picked up the mirror that had been lying next to her.

"When you said later I thought you meant "tomorrow night" and not three-thirty in the morning!" said Lily angrily as she looked at her clock and saw what time it was.

"So you got my note then?" asked James with a smile. Unlike Lily, he hadn't been to bed yet and was filled with the adrenaline that came with sneaking around and not getting caught.

"Uh huh," said Lily as she yawned. "It was clever of you to slip the mirror and note into my pocket when we were saying good-bye."

"Thank you," said James with a grin.

Lily just yawned again. James smiled as he looked at her via the mirror. Her eyes were only half-open, and her hair was all mussed up, but she still looked very cute.

"Can we talk later, say tomorrow night?" asked Lily. "I only got to sleep two hours ago because I was up doing that essay for McGonagall."

"Sure," said James. "Keep the mirror with you and I'll call you around midnight."

"Okay," said Lily tiredly. "Good night."

"Good night Lily; I love you."

"Love you too."

James put the mirror into the drawer in his nightstand and slipped under the blankets on his bed. However, he couldn't fall asleep. The conversations he had had with his parents were still buzzing around his head and he couldn't relax. He had so desperately wanted to talk to Lily and hear her opinion, but he understood that he would have to wait until the following day. Eventually he nodded off, but his dreams were far from pleasant.

-----

At exactly midnight James pulled out his mirror and called Lily's name.

This time she picked up the mirror without hesitation. "Hey James," she said brightly.

"Hi," said James. He had had an awful day, but just seeing Lily's face made him forget all about it. "How was your day?"

"Ugh, you don't want to know," replied Lily.

"No I do! Tell me all about it," said James eagerly. "Please, it will make me forget about my day. I just want to feel like I'm back at Hogwarts again… with you."

"Alright," said Lily, melting at the sight of her boyfriend's pleading face. "After you left Marlene, Alice and I went back to the common room, but, even though it was so late, everyone was still awake and they wanted to know exactly what was going on with you guys. So of course, we turned right around and ran to our study. We stayed there for a couple of hours and did some research for the McGonagall essay, but all of our books were back in the tower, so none of us started the essay until after 12:30 when we decided it would be safe to go back to the common room. That's why I was so tired last night when you woke me up."

"Understandable," said James. "Please go on."

"Well, the three of us were going to sleep in because we have a free block first, but we were woken up by nearly every girl in the tower because they all wanted to know what had happened to you guys. There were some pretty funny rumors going around that they wanted us to explain."

"Like what?" asked James.

"Like… well someone started the rumor that the aurors were going to feed the four of you to the giant squid, and someone else said that you were all going to the Minister's house and he was going to personally beat you with a stick," said Lily laughing. "Many of them were concerned about the unsightly bruises the four of you would receive; none of them wanted your pretty faces marred."

James laughed. He thought it was funny that some girls were still holding a torch for him and the other Marauders. He was committed to Lily and Remus was still yearning for that exchange student Vicky even if he wouldn't admit it, and Sirius was with Marlene. Peter was available, but most of them had already dated him to try and get to his friends and he had wizened up after a while.

"So we told them all that the four of you had been shipped out to Peru to work in the fields harvesting potatoes," Lily told him with a huge grin.

James guffawed loudly at this news. "And what did they think of that?"

"I don't know; Marlene threw pillows at them until they left our dorm. So we all fell back asleep and were late to our next class."

"Which was Potions, so it was no problem for you to talk your way out of that one," said James knowingly.

"I just told Slughorn that I had been checking on one of the potions I was brewing for him for his fourth year class next week and Marlene and Alice had been waiting for me to go to class when there was a complication. They stayed with me to help and we ran to class as soon as everything was under control. Luckily I saved the potion," added Lily.

"Oh thank goodness," said James mockingly. "Merlin forbid that Slughorn should have to make one of his own potions."

"After that the day went by as well as could be expected. The Professors are all getting anxious about N.E.W.T.s and are doubling the homework amounts. Ugh… I don't even want to think about those awful tests. Tell me about your day; actually start with last night. What did your parents say?"

"Well, my mom and I had a lovely chat over tea and biscuits, and then my dad and I had a friendly debate about Quidditch," said James sarcastically.

"James," said Lily doubtfully.

James sighed and then began his story. "Well I convinced my mom to listen to the whole story instead of jumping to conclusions; she thought that I had been expelled. Once she heard the whole story she actually believed me, just like you did. That didn't stop her from giving me a very lengthy lecture though. She went on and on about having a good reputation and that if I didn't have a reputation as a prankster and Slytherin-hater then I wouldn't be in this situation. She also said how dare I endanger my future with such "shenanigans"…"

"Your mom said "shenanigans"?" interrupted Lily.

"Did you think I could come up with that on my own? Anyways, she basically summed it all up by telling me to grow up, especially since we were in the middle of a war, and to stop embarrassing the family with such childish nonsense. She also threw in a couple of guilt trips at the end; telling me that as the only Potter heir I had to uphold the family name and all that bs," finished James angrily.

Lily was silent for a moment as she took all of it in. "James," she said softly. "I wish I was there with you."

"Me too," whispered James. "I don't think that there has ever been a time in my life when I have wanted to kiss you this much."

Lily smiled softly and then attempted to soothe her troubled boyfriend as best she could when she was so far away. "We all have responsibilities. Some of us have heavier burdens than others; it is your burden to be the Potter heir. You _do_ have to grow up. You can't just be goofing off all the time anymore because people are going to be watching you now. But you know what? I know you can do it because you have come so far already. You are twice the man you were this time last year. You will continue to make your parents proud James; I know it."

James smiled gently as Lily spoke her words of comfort. She was comforting him about his tough responsibilities when he knew that hers were so much heavier. He didn't know the full extent of her troubles because she rarely spoke of them, but he did know that her time to sort things out was rapidly drawing to an end.

"What about you Lily? I feel like such a spoiled, rotten brat when you talk that way about my burdens. Yours must be ten times worse, yet you aren't complaining about them like I am."

Lily brushed his question off by saying, "Don't you worry about me; you and the other Marauders are the ones that need attention now. Things aren't going so well here. The aurors are still asking questions and trying to figure out what really happened, but they don't see to be making much progress; no one knows what happened or who did it. But don't you worry, Alice, Marlene and I are listening and eventually someone is going to slip up."

"Well with you on the case how could we not win?"

Lily smiled faintly. "If we weren't in the middle of the war, if everyone wasn't already on edge and scared for their lives, this wouldn't be that big of a deal," said Lily bitterly. "I hate that you guys are being punished for this when you didn't do anything. I especially hate the fact that you aren't here. Patrols are so boring when I have to go by myself."

"I bet you cover a lot more ground though," said James with a grin as he recalled how frequently he and Lily stopped during their shifts.

"Well now that I don't have the map I have to look for trouble-makers the old-fashioned way."

"Luckily when the aurors searched our trunks they disregarded the map completely, didn't even test it or anything," said James. "It seems as if we have a bit of luck at last."

"So back to you, what did your dad say?" inquired Lily.

"He picked up where my mum left off, lecturing me about upholding the family name and all that. My favorite part was when he used his favorite line, 'James, you'll never become Head Auror with this kind of behavior.' I think I've heard that a million times in the last twelve years. I was supposed to start becoming an adult when I was six years old, can you believe that?"

Lily smiled sadly as she said, "I was seven when I was told that my little sister might die from cancer. When I was twelve my mother died, and it basically fell to me to run the house. Now try and tell me about growing up early."

"I can't even imagine that," said James as the years he spent being pampered flowed through his memory… house elves cleaning his room, washing his clothes, cooking his meals… getting everything he wanted for Christmas… spending weeks with his mother at their vacation home in Italy… getting V.I.P. seats at Quidditch games with his dad… While he was living the good life Lily was balancing her household budget, , cleaning, buying household supplies, getting her little sister to eat the vegetables which she had cooked, and trying to stop her older sister from going out and getting drunk at every opportunity.

Abruptly changing the subject Lily asked, "What is Remus going to do about the full moon? It's in only a couple of days."

"Hopefully we'll be home by then. My dad and I talked about it and we don't want to tell the aurors about it because that will definitely be another stroke against our case and we don't need that right now. If we're still stuck here then we will tell them so that Moony can be properly restrained. I just hope that it doesn't come to that," said James.

Dimly James heard the grandfather clock down the hallway strike one. Regretfully he said, "You had better get some sleep. You have classes tomorrow."

"What do you do all day?" asked Lily.

"My mum makes us do the work that McGonagall sent. Then when we finish that we do some extra preparation for our N.E.W.T.s. Then we get to have some fun and read some educational books from the library. And since my mum has nothing better to do because she can't leave the house, she watches us the whole time. We don't dare to even look at one another. She believes our story and is sympathetic to some point, but she is also trying to teach us a lesson by not letting us just relax and enjoy our suspension. She's also being tough so the aurors don't have any excuse to testify against us.

"My dad stays in his study most of the day, reviewing the transcripts of the student interrogations and talking to his team through the floo. He believes us too and is trying desperately to find some way to prove us innocent. Now you really should go to sleep," said James caringly.

"You and I both know that I have gone to bed much later than one on a regular basis," Lily pointed out.

"And we both know that that isn't healthy for you, so get some extra sleep while you can and try and make up the thousand hour sleep deficit you have," James rebutted.

"Alright," Lily conceded. "Goodnight, I love you."

Every single time he heard Lily say those three words James couldn't help but smile; this time was no exception. He grinned and replied, "I love you too; sleep well."

Lily smiled and then put the mirror on her nightstand, ending the conversation. As James put his mirror on his own nightstand he felt incredibly lonely. Not only that but he also felt empty, like some piece of him was missing. In the same minute that he realized that Lily held the missing piece, he became terrified. He was so madly and deeply in love with Lily he didn't know what he would do if he couldn't be near her. Being separated was driving him crazy and it had only been a couple of days.

James groaned and flopped around on his bed trying to get comfortable. Nothing worked. Unconsciously his mind brought forth memories of the way his body molded around Lily's… the feeling of her smooth legs intertwined with his… her intoxicating hair brushing against his throat… the shape of abdomen underneath his arm… memories vivid enough to drive anyone insane.

Quickly James sprang out of bed and began doing push-ups to try to forget about that night. As he pushed his arms up and down he expended the adrenaline that had surfaced with the memories and concentrated solely on the movement of his muscles. Under his breath he counted: one… two…twenty-seven… fifty-five… eighty-nine… He reached one hundred and still he couldn't get a certain red head out of his mind. He let himself sink to the ground, took a moment to catch his breath and then flipped over onto his back and began doing sit-ups: one… two… thirty-four… sixty… ninety-five… Again he reached one hundred and still he ached for her.

James spent the next hour doing every exercise he could think of with a frantic speed until finally he was so physically exhausted that he couldn't think straight. He let himself fall onto his bed and slip into a familiar uneasy sleep.

-----

"What are we going to do?" asked Rupert in a whisper.

Rupert's fellow Hufflepuff Danny shot him a glare and hissed, "Not here! Anyone could be listening!"

"No one's even close," said the third person at the secluded table in the library, another Hufflepuff first-year named Emma. "And besides, no one pays any attention to Hufflepuffs, especially not the first years."

"But what about the aurors?" asked Danny nervously.

"I told you no one is near us; I checked when I went to grab my book. The only auror in here is talking to Madame Pince about anyone checking out suspicious books or something like that," Emma informed them.

"So what are we going to do?" Rupert repeated.

"We don't squeal, that's what we do," said Danny.

"But they'll figure it out in the end and then we'll get in even more trouble," said Rupert. "My older brother said that there was a rumor going around in the Ravenclaw common room that they were testing the knives that were charmed and were going to trace the culprits that way."

"That's impossible," scoffed Emma.

"How do you know?" asked Rupert. "You may be a pure blood but you don't know any more than the rest of us."

"I think we should just keep playing dumb," said Danny, diffusing a potential fight. "The aurors don't think we could have possibly done it; they just keep asking if we know who did do it."

"When they figure it out we'll be in huge trouble; they might go easy on us if we just tell them now. We didn't know what we were doing. We should just tell them," said Rupert firmly.

"Maybe Rupert's right," said Emma with a defeated air as she dropped her tough façade. "They are trained aurors and it's likely we'll be figured out. No one really thinks the Marauders did it anyways."

"Speaking of them, my brother said that they might go to Azkaban for the rest of their lives for this!" said Rupert suddenly.

"Keep your voice down," Danny urged him. "Yeah, I don't like that part either. I guess we were pretty dumb to think that it was the Marauders under those hoods. Their voices and heights were all off."

"I'd have to say so," said Emma. "I think I've learned my lesson; never trust someone in a black hooded cloak."

"What are we going to say to the aurors? We don't even know who told us to do it! What if they don't believe our story?" asked Danny anxiously.

"They have to believe us," said Emma firmly. "They just have to."

"Let's tell Dumbledore instead; the aurors are scary," said Rupert.

"I think," began Danny slowly. "That we should just wait a while and see how things go. Maybe the aurors will figure out who really did it and we don't need to get involved at all. That way we won't get in trouble, because after all we really did do it but it wasn't our idea, but if we confess then we'll be the ones who get in trouble. The aurors will probably find out who told us to do it and then when those guys tell them it was us no one will believe them because we're just dumb Hufflepuff first-years."

"I like that plan," said Emma.

Uneasily Rupert agreed.

They all turned back to their essays until a shadow spread across their table. All three blanched at the thought of what the person could have just overheard.

"Hello," said the Head Girl in a friendly voice.

The first years were too scared to respond. Emma nudged Rupert until finally he murmured a greeting.

"I'm not going to hurt you and I'm not going to turn you in," said Lily calmly as she squatted down next to the table.

Slowly the three kids relaxed and finally looked over at Lily.

"We're not in trouble?" asked Emma in a small voice.

"No," said Lily soothingly.

"How much did you hear?" asked Rupert bravely.

"Well what I heard started with 'we did it' and finished with 'let's not tell anyone and just hope it all works out,'" said Lily unemotionally.

"We didn't mean to do it! Honest! We didn't know what that spell really did! Some older kids just came up to us one day here in the library and told us to meet them outside our common room at midnight on April first. They led us to the Great Hall and told us to do this spell. They told us it would make all of the knives wobbly for the Slytherins so that they would look silly. We thought it was the Marauders; we just wanted to be cool like them. We never thought that they would get in huge trouble for it. Are they really going to go to Azkaban?" asked Hannah very rapidly.

Lily smiled gently as the very remorseful and worried eleven year olds. "I'm going to let you in on a secret; the Marauders could go to Azkaban if no one else confesses. We're in the middle of a war right now and people are very scared. Everyone is especially scared of things that are a mystery, so they will do anything to solve the mystery, even if it means blaming the wrong people. So if no one else can be blamed then my friends will go to jail for a very long time."

"If we tell the aurors what we know will we go to Azkaban?" asked Rupert with tears in his eyes.

"Of course not," said Lily reassuringly. She could have laughed at the somber expression on the small children's faces if the situation was not so grave. "You didn't know any better. The aurors and teachers will understand. You're only first years, you're expected to make mistakes."

Eyeing the badge on Lily's robes Hannah said in a shaky voice, "I bet you didn't do anything dumb like this when you were a first year."

Lily laughed. "When I was a first year a boy named James Potter tricked me into making all of my hair disappear in front of my whole common room. I'd have to say that that is much stupider than what you three did."

Then Lily stood up and grabbed her book. "While not trusting people in cloaks is a very good lesson," at this Hannah blushed. "Another lesson would be to not discuss something you want kept secret in the library. You may think no one is around, but you never know who is in the Restricted Section on the other side of this bookcase."

"Are you going to turn us in?" Danny called after Lily.

Lily turned and said, "Of course not. The decision is yours; I only ask you to please be brave and do the right thing."

"How do we know what the right thing is?" asked Rupert.

"Generally you can tell what is the right thing because it's the hard thing."

"But we're not Gryffindors; we aren't brave," said Hannah.

"Even though I'm not a Hufflepuff I'm loyal to my friends, and I'm not a Ravenclaw but I'm still very intelligent, and I'm not a Slytherin but I'm still ambitious. So, you are brave even though your uniforms have yellow crests," said Lily.

The three young students didn't look convinced so Lily continued, "But if it helps I can make you honorary Gryffindors for the day."

Wide-eyed Danny said, "You can do that?"

"Sure, part of the perks of my job," she said with a smile. Then she conjured up three badges with Gryffindor crests and handed them to the kids. "There, now you're brave."

"Thanks," said Danny who was awestruck.

"You're welcome. Now if I were to tell an auror some very important information I would go speak to Professor McGonagall and arrange for a informal meeting with one. I think that it would be much easier to speak with a stranger if I had someone that I knew with me, someone like Professor McGonagall, or maybe Professor Flitwick. Have a nice day!" Lily finished and then walked away.

She was so happy she could have skipped, but aware of retaining her reputation as an authority figure she kept her cool and just walked over to Madam Pince's desk.

"I'd like to borrow this please," said Lily politely.

"Of course dear," said Madam Pince. Madam Pince didn't like very many students, but she did like Lily Evans. Lily always returned her books on time and in perfect condition. She also never left her table messy and was very quiet while in the library. She also had a free pass to go into the Restricted Section from Professor Dumbledore, so she trusted Lily even more and didn't even bat an eyelash when Lily took out books like Delving into the Dark Arts.

However, the auror that had been chatting with Madam Pince didn't know of Lily's fabulous reputation, but had heard of her name. So we he saw her write her name on the book slip, he became very curious.

"And what would you be doing with a book like that missy?" asked Auror Fernandes.

"Research of course," answered Madam Pince before Lily could even open her mouth. "Miss Evans regularly takes out such books, and she always returns them in mint condition."

"Regularly huh," mused the auror. "It's very convenient that I ran into you Miss Evans; we've been wanting to talk to you."

"Is it possible that an interview could wait? I have a paper I really must start this afternoon."

"No I think we had better go right away," said Fernandes firmly as he gestured towards the door.

Lily gave a weak smile to Madam Pince, picked up her book and walked out the door with her head held high.

Silently Fernandes led Lily to the classroom where the aurors had set up their base of operations. Unfortunately for Lily only aurors Jinner and Harris were in the room having switched off with Jockham and Timbeault so they could report what they had learned while being posted in the common rooms.

"And who is this?" asked Harris as he looked up from his report.

"Lily Evans," said Fernandes gruffly. "She was checking this out of the library," he added as he grabbed the book out of her hands and tossed it to Harris.

"Interesting choice for a bedtime story," commented Harris as he flipped through the pages.

"It's for research," said Lily bravely. "For the record I'm not a Death Eater and I don't practice the dark arts."

"But you do check out books about the dark arts on a regular basis," said Fernandes as he set a quill to record the conversation.

"Like I said, for research."

"Research for what?" asked Harris.

"I am working on an independent study project. Professor Dumbledore is mentoring me, so if you would like more information or to validate my story you may see him," Lily informed the aurors curtly.

"I'm sure that as a seventh year and Head Girl you have more than enough work to keep you occupied, why add to that pile?" questioned Jinner suspiciously.

Without hesitation Lily answered saying, "Professor Dumbledore proposed the project to me. He thought that such an accomplishment would be a great thing for me to put on my resume."

"I see," said Harris as he made a mental note to verify her story later. "Now I would like to know a bit more about your relationship with James Potter."

"He's my boyfriend," said Lily slowly.

"For how long?" asked Jinner.

"Since umm… November, so going on five months now," replied Lily.

"And would you say that it's a serious relationship?" inquired Harris.

"I fail to see how any of this is pertinent," stated Lily.

"Just answer the question," ordered Fernandes sharply.

"Yeah I suppose it's serious; we don't date other people. And if you were wondering we kiss about seventeen times a day, usually 42% of that amount involves tongue, and no I haven't had sex with him," said Lily testily.

"No need to get angry Miss Evans," said Harris.

"Or defensive," added Jinner with a sly grin.

"I'm not being defensive; I just don't like people poking around in my private life, especially when it's none of their business," said Lily, sounding very much like a small child.

"I'm going to cut straight to the point then," said Harris. "I believe that James Potter and his cronies did charm those knives to hurt the Slytherins because I have heard stories of what they have done from my son who graduated last year and I know what Christopher Potter did back when he was in school. And if they didn't do it they were certainly capable of doing it and deserve to be punished for all of the other acts they have committed over the years. The only missing piece of the puzzle is who thought up the spell and performed it for them. We checked their wands and none of them had performed the spell we discovered on the knives. Unfortunately we can only test wands if it is deemed absolutely necessary, so we can't test the whole school. But I am deeming it necessary to test your wand Miss Evans because it is appearing that you could be just the missing piece, extremely intelligent, well versed in the dark arts, close to the perpetrators… it all fits, now we just need the evidence."

"It's too bad that you won't find it," said Lily. "But here's my wand anyways, knock yourselves out."

Harris was a little confused by Lily's cavalier attitude, but he accepted her wand certain that he was right; he just had to be. This was the one and only opportunity he had to get Christopher off of the force and jettison himself into the Captain position.

"She's clean," muttered Harris with disappointment as he returned the wand.

"Thank you," said Lily as she took her wand back. "Is there anything else I can help you with?"

"No," said Fernandes as he dismissed her. "Thank you for your time and we apologize for the inconvenience. Good luck on your project."

"Thank you," said Lily cordially, pretending to be mollified by the pleasantry she knew was designed to keep her from reporting their inaccurate hypothesis. "Have a wonderful day."

"You too," said Jinner with forced geniality.

After leaving the room Lily looked up and down the corridor and after seeing that it was deserted she skipped all the way to the study she and James shared. Now all that was left to do was wait for James to come running back to her. She couldn't wait.

**A/N. So I'm wondering if anyone actually reads this story. I have refrained from putting notes at the end of every chapter, but I have finally gotten fed up with the lack of reviews I am getting. Getting only seven reviews for a chapter is not exactly motivation to write and post the next one. Anyways I'm giving all five of you readers a chance to redeem yourselves. As soon as I get fifteen reviews (which will be an all-time high for this story) I will post the next chapter, even if it is tomorrow. The next chapter is almost finished, but it could easily sit in my hard drive unfinished for the next couple of months while I wait for the necessary number of reviews. Seriously people it's not that hard! I wrote 14 word pages for you guys the least you can do is write 14 words in response to tell me if you liked it or not. I'll even give you a couple of questions to respond to in case you don't know what to write:**

"**Are the chapters too long, too short or the right length?"**

"**Are the characterizations and plot realistic?"**

"**Are there any characters that you hate or love?"**

"**What would you like to see happen in the coming chapters?"**

**Now no one has any excuses! Please, please review!**


	33. I Have Never

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Harry Potter or Harry Potter related copyrights.**

**So 15 reviews later here it is! Now I would just like to clear up a few things:**

**I was never planning on discontinuing this story because of a lack of reviews. I write because I enjoy it, and I wouldn't stop because I wasn't getting reviews. However, I wouldn't have tried as hard to write, finish and edit the chapters for my readers. **

**Reviews do matter. They help me to gauge the quality of my writing and to fix things if necessary. For example, I wasn't sure if my chapters were so long that people got tired of reading and didn't get to the end so they didn't review. Because of all the reviews I received I discovered that the chapters are a good length; this is very helpful when I'm dividing up my chapters. The reviews also encourage me and make me smile! It's nice to be appreciated!**

**Also sometimes I have wondered if people really do read my story. Without reviews I have no way of telling if people are actually reading and enjoying my story.**

**Anyways thank you to all of those people who did choose to review- I appreciate it more than you can imagine. Also- to all of those people who did NOT review, you are lucky that there are some people out there who care enough to take 30 seconds to tell me how they feel about my story; without those people you probably wouldn't have seen this chapter for a couple of months. **

**Finally I really liked hearing your responses to my questions, and I think that it helped some people to find things to comment on, so now I will be putting questions at the end of every chapter.**

"So again Mr. Potter, Mr. Black, Mr. Lupin, and Mr. Pettigrew, on the behalf of all of us on the force I give you our most profound apologies for this whole incident," said Frederick Harris honestly. Once he had overcoming his own blinding ambition he had realized what fate he had almost condemned the son of his comrade to, and he regretted it sincerely.

Christopher Potter looked on with a huge smug smile on his face.

"Okay then, we will be heading out now," he told Professor Dumbledore. "And boys I'll see you in two weeks and not any sooner you understand?"

"Yes sir," said the four Marauders with almost giddy enthusiasm.

"Come on men, let's get out of here; we have one hell of a report to write up and Crouch wants it on his desk before five tomorrow," said Potter as he waved to the boys and led his team out the front doors.

"It's good to have you boys back again," said Albus warmly.

"It's good to be back sir," said James speaking for all of them.

"Well I'll leave you to reunite with your friends then; I trust that in your long absence you have not forgotten the way to Gryffindor Tower?" joked the wise old Headmaster.

The boys smiled and with their newly recovered wands banished their trunks to their dormitory and raced each other up to their common room.

"We're back!" they shouted as they stumbled through the portrait hole breathless.

Scattered around the common room were bright balloons and plenty of snacks, draped across one wall was a banner that said "They're not felons!" and all of Gryffindor house was present, yet James only had eyes for one person.

The moment she saw him enter the common room Lily sprang up from the house and sprinted across the common room. With his Quidditch reflexes James deftly caught his exuberant girlfriend and spun her around, nearly knocking Peter over. Half of the common room cooed at the adorable sight.

Although she never wanted to let go of him, Lily put a little space in between her body and James' and said, "There's some brave people you have to meet."

"They can wait," said James as he pulled his girlfriend closer again.

Showing a great deal more willpower than her boyfriend, Lily pulled away again and said, "They are the reason you're here; you owe them a thank you at least."

James huffed but let go of Lily, settling for wrapping his arm around her waist instead as she led him through the crowds to where three small Hufflepuffs sat nervously on a couch.

"James, this is Danny, Rupert and Emma; they are the three wonderful people who cleared your name," said Lily ecstatically.

James released Lily and crouched down so he was at eye-level with the eleven-year-olds. "If there is anything I can ever do for any of you please don't hesitate to ask. I am forever in your debt for what you have done for me and for my friends. I might have been rotting away in a jail cell right now if it wasn't for you. Never forget that even the smallest acts may change someone's life. Thank you."

"It was nothing," Emma piped up.

"Yeah, we're just sorry we couldn't identify who really was behind it all," said Danny.

"You did plenty," said James. "They may never figure out who it was and honestly I don't care. I'm just happy to be back here with my friends and my gorgeous girlfriend. Thank you again and now, if you'll excuse me I have a lot of catching up to do with her."

Emma giggled as James straightened up and put his arm around Lily's waist again and led her to a dark corner of the common room. Danny and Rupert looked at James in awe, hoping to someday be just like the Head Boy.

-----

"Look at them," said Marlene to Alice. "Just sitting over there talking, completely in their own little world. They're not even snogging."

"They don't have to be snogging," Alice pointed out. "Their love runs deeper than just the physical element; anyone can see that. They're happy just being near each other."

Marlene huffed and made a show of turning away from the happy couple.

"Why are you so pissy?" asked Alice sharply. "You have a boyfriend who was only too happy to snog you fifteen minutes ago."

Marlene sighed. "But that's all it is. Sirius and I don't talk like James and Lily do. We've only ever connected physically. And don't get me wrong, the snogging is great, but I'm looking for more in a relationship."

"Be realistic Marly, we're still in school. James and Lily are that one in a million couple that finds true love in their school sweetheart. Notice that the chances are **one** in a million and because they are the **one** couple that means you and Sirius aren't. Enjoy your relationship for what it is, not hate it for what it's not," advised Alice sagely.

Marlene hugged her wise friend tightly and said, "What would I do without your sensible advice Alice? Thank you."

-----

After a while the once wild party came to an end and the last partiers trudged tiredly up the stairs to their dormitories leaving only the Marauders, Lily, Marly and Alice in the common room.

James and Lily had finally emerged from their love cocoon and rejoined the real world only a few minutes ago. The seven friends were sitting in a circle and wondering what they should do.

"We could play spin the bottle," suggested Peter.

"Yeah that worked out so well last time," said Sirius sarcastically.

"And besides the only single girl here is me," said Alice. "That would make the game awkward."

"How about truth or dare?" said Marlene.

Remus quickly rejected that idea saying, "You don't want to play truth or dare with James and Sirius; they come up with very interesting dares to say the least."

James and Sirius grinned wickedly and Peter flinched perceptibly.

Then Marlene and Alice met each other's gaze and smiled widely.

"Ut oh," muttered Lily. She knew that look far too well.

"How about playing 'I have never'?" asked Marlene.

Lily groaned and covered her face in her hands.

James watched the strange reaction of the girl sitting in his lap and said curiously, "How do you play?"

"Well," said Marlene still grinning like a mad woman. "We go around in a circle and each person says something that they have never done. Any person who has done that thing must take a shot."

"We are not playing with alcohol," stated Lily firmly.

"Why not?" asked Peter.

"Because Lily with be drunk within ten minutes," said Marlene evilly.

"I hate this game," said Lily as all the boys agreed to play.

"It sounds like fun," said James as Remus returned to the circle with seven cups and the bowl of punch left from the party.

"It's not as fun when there isn't any alcohol," said Marlene as she transfigured the plastic cups into shot glasses and put a charm on them. "But this should still be a very interesting experience for everyone. Now everyone be honest because the shot glass will glow if you're lying and then you have to take two shots and we'll all know the truth anyways. I'll go first. I have never… snogged three different boys in the same day."

"I hate you Marlene," said Lily as she reached into the circle and took a shot glass.

"Wow Lily," said Peter in disbelief.

"Your turn Alice," said Lily.

Alice's smile mirrored Marlene's mischievous one. "I have never cheated on my significant other."

Lily and Sirius took shots this time.

"It wasn't you," Lily informed James after taking a drink.

"Wasn't you either," Sirius assured his girlfriend.

"Go ahead Peter," said Marlene.

"Okay, I umm… I have never had sex," said Peter quietly. No one took a drink.

"Interesting," said Sirius as he looked at James and Lily intently. "Your turn James."

"I have never had fleas," said James looking straight at Sirius.

Marlene jumped off of Sirius' lap very quickly as he reached for a drink.

"Don't worry love, I got rid of them," he said as he shot an irritated look at his best mate.

"Your turn Lily," said Marlene gleefully as she settled herself back on Sirius' lap.

Lily thought for a moment and then said, "I have never eaten a whole pie in one sitting."

Marlene sighed and commented, "Lily always comes up with the least exciting things because she's done all the exciting ones."

After James, Sirius, Remus and Peter had all taken a shot of punch it was Remus' turn.

"I have never had a fantasy dream about Lily," he said with great delight. He and Alice roared with laughter as James, Sirius and Peter all took shots. Lily blushed and refused to meet any of their gazes.

"It was a _very_ good dream," James whispered in Lily's ear, making her blush even darker.

"Your turn Sirius," said Alice as she recovered herself.

"Let's see; I had better make this a good one. I have never watched a click flick hoping to impress a girl."

James, Remus, and Peter all took shots, much to the delight of the girls, especially Lily, who had recovered from her previous embarrassment.

"Now who were you trying to impress?" Lily asked James rhetorically.

"You of course," he answered.

"What movie?" she asked.

"I don't even remember; we didn't get all the way through it before we gave up and went to go play Quidditch instead," explained James.

"Typical," sighed Lily.

"Oh goody! It's my turn again!" said Marlene. "I have never kept a picture of someone of the opposite sex underneath my pillow."

Everyone except Marlene drank to that one.

"Now everyone has to spill; whose picture was it?" demanded Marlene.

Alice said, "Remus, Tim Jorkins, and couple of Quidditch players."

Peter listed a few female models and Remus admitting to having Vicky's picture under his pillow.

James replied, "Well… there was that girl on the cover of Quidditch Monthly…"

"I remember her!" said Peter with a laugh. "She was your dream girl before Lily."

"Oh yeah," said Sirius. "Never shut up about her; always saying that she was hot and played Quidditch- perfect in James' eyes. For me it was just a couple of muggle actresses."

James wrapped his arms around his precious girlfriend and continued, "And Lily's picture of course."

"Okay Alice your turn," said Lily.

"Not so fast Lily," said Marlene. "You didn't tell us who is under your pillow."

"That wasn't part of the game," Lily weakly protested. At seeing Marlene's set face, Lily sighed and answered, "Kenny Landers, Georgie Hanson, Phil Sears, Carl Fishberg, and Jamie Canyone."

"Actors? Celebrities?" asked James.

"No, just guys I thought I was madly in love with and really wasn't. None of them lasted more than a couple of days," elaborated Lily. "Just summer flings."

"No picture of me?" asked James, slightly hurt.

"Your picture is on my nightstand, and on my desk and in my photo album, don't let your poor ego be deflated," said Lily. "I just often thrash in my sleep and the pictures under my pillow often end up lost or crumpled."

"You have never kicked or anything when you were in bed with me," said James before he realized what he was saying and that he and Lily were not alone.

"Prat," muttered Lily as she smacked him lightly.

"You never told us about that!" said Marlene, her eyes brightening at the thought of a good juicy story.

"We've walked in on them loads of times," said Peter.

"Twice Peter, just twice," said James tiredly. "Moving on, it's your turn Alice."

"I have never become so totally hammered that I didn't even remember my own name," said Alice.

Lily, Sirius, Marlene, James, and Peter toasted to that one.

"Remember that time," said Marlene as she and James looked at each other and began laughing hysterically.

"Yeah at that party?" said James.

"At the important person's house?"

"When we forgot we were mortal enemies because we were the only ones there under fifty?"

"And you stole that whole bottle of vodka and we downed it?"

"And then everything is still a blur?"

"Great times!"

"So fun!"

"I'll never forget the lecture that came after that time that I can't remember because I was so drunk," reminisced Marlene.

"What's your drinking story Sirius?" asked Alice.

"My parents started me on rum when I was ten to build my liquor tolerance; by the time I was thirteen I could get drunk with the best of them," boasted Sirius.

"And what about you Peter?" asked Marlene as the other three Marauders burst out laughing.

"What happened?" asked Lily.

"Well," began Sirius grandly. "The summer after fifth year we were all at James' house and Pete here wakes up in the middle of the night, decides he's thirsty, heads down to the kitchen for a drink, yeah? Opens the cupboard and sees a bottle; now he's all bleary-eyed because it was in the middle of the night. Now the bottle looks like juice so he takes a sip, decides it's mighty tasty and drinks the whole bottle. Then he finds another one and downs it. You may have guessed, but these bottles didn't have grape juice like Peter thought; it was red wine.

"After the third bottle Pete became a bit restless. He started dancing around the kitchens bumping into things and throwing things around. He gave the house elves such a fright that they popped into Mr. and Mrs. P's bedroom and woke them up. Now James' parents had no idea what was going on, but they certainly weren't expecting to see Peter shaking his "thang" on their countertops waving his shirt above his head and yelling gibberish. Now by this time the rest of us were up and we arrived just in time to see Pete rip off his trousers!"

Sirius as well as the other Marauders were nearly crying with laughter at this point; well, except for Peter who was wishing the ground would swallow him up.

Eager to get the attention off of himself Peter asked Lily, "What is your drinking story?"

Lily stopped laughing immediately and the muscles of her face tensed as if the memory was very painful. After a moment's hesitation she relaxed and said, "Well it was a Friday night two summer's ago. As usual I was sent to my bedroom at nine…"

"Nine? What a lame bedtime! What are you? Four?" interrupted Peter in a boisterous voice.

"My step-mom sends me to bed so early so that I can sneak out of the house without arousing my father's suspicions," explained Lily tightly.

"She wants you to sneak out?" asked Remus in surprise.

"She just wants me to be popular," said Lily, just barely masking her distaste. "Anyways, this night was not unlike most others. A guy threw some pebbles at my window, I shimmied down the drain pipe and got in the car with him and a few mutual acquaintances and we went to a club not too far from my house.

"I was only sixteen at the time, but I convinced the bouncer to let me in," said Lily with a smirk as she recalled the effect of her feminine wiles on the man. "I don't even remember how I got so trashed; guys just kept buying me drinks and I kept drinking them. It was a good thing my sister showed up and dragged me home or I would have done something really stupid."

"How did Daisy get into the club?" asked Marlene.

"Not Daisy, Petunia," said Lily.

"What were you going to do?" asked Peter, his imagination running wild.

"Spend the night with a guy I met there," said Lily tactfully. "Luckily Petunia pulled me out of there, by my hair, before I could leave with him. She gave me quite a remarkable speech the next morning, with an enormous hangover her voice is ten times more shrill and annoying, but she never told my parents. She scared me so badly that I haven't gotten that trashed since. Anyways, how about a change of subject? It's your turn Peter."

Peter didn't hesitate in saying, "I have never done housework in a frilly pink apron."

Exchanging identical looks of annoyance James and Sirius took a shot of punch.

"Is there a story behind that one?" asked Alice.

"There most certainly is," said Remus with a grin. "One day during the summer holidays, Peter and I stopped by to see if James and Sirius were up for a trip to Diagon Alley and one of the house elves directed us to the kitchens. We walked in and James was washing the floor while Sirius was doing the dishes, without magic and wearing matching pink aprons!"

"My mum's idea of punishment for flying in the house," said James as he too laughed at the memory. "Now Peter, a guy can't take that kind of insult to his masculinity lying down, especially when his girlfriend is in the room. So this next one is for you."

Peter gulped.

"I have never kissed a gerbil."

Lily craned her head and looked at her boyfriend with a confused look on her face.

Reluctantly Peter took a drink. Totally repulsed by the possible explanations no one questioned him.

Sensing Peter's discomfort, Lily took her turn. "I have never cut my own hair."

Marlene groaned and said, "Lily, really now, do you _have_ to be so boring?"

Lily just smiled serenely as she watched Peter, Remus, James, Alice and Marlene take shots.

"You've never cut your hair?" Marlene inquired of her boyfriend.

"And ruin such perfection?" asked Sirius in a joking way. "You're up Remus."

"I have never run away from home," said Remus looking at Lily with a curious look on his face.

Lily tensed and James repressed the urge to glare at Remus. Lily and Sirius were the only ones to take drinks. Neither commented on their actions and no one inquired further.

Sirius recovered quickly from the previous statement and announced his own. With a great deal of bravado he said, "I have never been kissed!"

Everyone laughed at this one; they had all been subjected to Sirius' many public displays of affection numerous times. He was never really private with all of his many girlfriends in fifth and sixth years, and even though he hadn't dated much since the start of seventh year, once he started dating Marlene, their friends had been made to suffer on a regular basis.

"Ok, so really, I have never been rejected for a date," said Sirius.

Alice, Marlene, Peter, and Remus all took drinks. Then, after a whispered comment to Lily, James took his shot.

"I thing you should take one shot for every time you've been rejected," said Sirius hardly containing his laughter.

"We would be here all night!" teased Marlene.

"We could narrow it down a bit to only the times he was rejected by Lily, but wait that wouldn't change the number!" said Sirius, joining his girlfriend in taunting James.

James just smiled and took their jeers because his perseverance had paid off in the end.

"So Lily, you've never once been rejected?" asked Peter in awe.

Lily shook her head.

"But have you ever asked anyone out?" asked Remus sensibly.

"Not anyone from school but I've asked a couple of other guys out. Sometimes it was just to make my step-mom crazy, other times it was just fun," said Lily lightly.

"Okay my turn!" announced Marlene. "I have never gone skinny dipping!"

The four Marauders as well as Lily took drinks.

"Italy," the boys said in unison.

"I'm starting to wonder if what Marlene said is true Lily; you seem to have done all the exciting stuff," said Sirius.

"Well when it's your turn again you can find out some more, but right now it's Alice's turn. Please Alice don't pick something you know I'll have to drink to, my stomach is pretty full as it is," Lily begged.

"I have never become an Animagus," Alice said without looking at anyone.

Silently four hands reached for glasses.

"Lily?" asked Alice in surprise. "I thought I knew about the boys, but you?"

"Yeah, you?" echoed James and Remus simultaneously.

"I knew it!" shouted Sirius.

"What?!" everyone asked as they turned to Sirius.

"This just got really complicated; I think it's time everyone went to bed," said Lily nervously as she stood up.

"No I think now would be a great time for some explanations," said James as he stood up and his gaze bore into Lily's.

"I think Lily's right and we should all go to bed," said Remus, who knew that the explanations would ultimately come back to his lycanthropy.

"I'm not leaving until someone explains all of this to me," said Marlene as she joined the standing people.

"I'd like an explanation too," said Alice quietly as she stood up and looked at Lily questioningly.

"I-I-I…" stuttered Lily as she frantically looked from one expectant face to the next. "I can't do this; I'm sorry."

Then she ran to the window, opened it and flung herself out into the dark spring night.

**A/N Any theories anyone? **

**What was your favorite "I have never…"?**


	34. You Drive Me Crazy!

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Harry Potter or Harry Potter related copyrights.**

**So dear readers I didn't promise to update when I received a certain number of reviews and coincidentally I didn't get as many reviews. Therefore I will be reinstating the review policy. I have the next chapter and part of the following chapter written so as soon as I get 20 (yes I'm upping the ante a bit!) reviews I will update! Don't forget to check out the questions at the end of the chapter; I love reading your responses! **

"Lily!" roared James in terror as he ran to the open window.

"Look mate," urged Sirius as he restrained James from following Lily out the window.

James followed Sirius' finger and saw a large bird fly off into the night its dark wings silhouetted against the almost full moon.

"I knew she'd be a bird," said Sirius to himself.

"Will someone please explain what is going on?! My best friend just jumped out of a window; someone explain this now!" said Marlene angrily as she stamped her foot.

"Well, obviously, Lily is an animagus, some sort of large bird," began Sirius very slowly.

"I got that part!" snapped Marlene.

James, Sirius, and Peter's heads all swiveled to look at Remus.

Remus, staring off into the distance, quietly uttered, "Not here. Let's go upstairs."

Everyone quietly followed Remus up to the boys' dormitory where he told Alice and Marlene of his "furry little problem." They both reacted well, saying that they would have to think everything over and take it all in but they would still be friends even though they knew about his lycanthropy. Then they other Marauders informed the girls about becoming animagi; both Alice and Marlene were very impressed by their magical abilities as well as their dedication to their friend. Next came the part that James was really interested in, the part about Lily.

"So did anyone know that Lily was an animagus?" asked James.

"You didn't either?" asked Marlene. "Finally something I'm not the last to know!"

"She was better at keeping it a secret than your four with your obvious nicknames and not so subtle comments to one another than you thought no one else understood," commented Alice.

"So you figured out the animagus part but not the werewolf part?" asked Sirius. "Interesting."

"Does Lily know about all of this?" asked Marlene suddenly.

"Yes, yes, now back to Lily's secret," said James impatiently.

"Which one?" scoffed Peter.

"What do you mean?" asked James as he rounded on Peter.

"Just that she seems to have a lot of secrets that's all," said Peter. "Think about it; she always changes the subject, pretends not to listen, or doesn't answer when the conversation is about her. I'm not surprised that no one knew she was an animagus."

"But Padfoot knew," said James.

"I only guessed," Sirius contradicted him. "I wasn't sure. All I knew was that Lily avoided all conversation of animagus forms at the Quidditch game and then one full moon I smelled her in the woods. She claimed that she hadn't been there, but my nose doesn't lie. I have also read sections of her diary."

"Makes you wonder what else she's hiding," murmured Marlene.

"In her defense I have been hiding a big secret too," said Remus.

"But do you have any more secrets?" asked Alice. When Remus shook his head she continued, "I'll bet Lily has tons. I bet she doesn't even go and make Potions for Slughorn on Saturday mornings. She's probably been lying to us for years. We're so stupid!"

"No, she's just a remarkable liar," said Marlene fiercely.

"When do you think she'll come back?" James wondered as she stared out at the empty sky.

"You never know with her," said Marlene bitterly. "She can only face confrontation head-on when it's her own terms; she has trouble dealing with something forced upon her."

"She likes to think things through," said Alice. "So I assume once she's done that she'll be back."

"I can almost understand her not telling the rest of us, but you James? It doesn't make sense," said Marlene.

"It makes perfect sense to me," said James. "She only ever lets me in in bits and pieces. She's scared to let anyone in too much; she's been disappointed far too often in her life to depend on other people."

Everyone stood in silence for a few moments thinking about their absent friend.

"Does anyone know where Lily is spending her vacation? How about where she's going after graduation? Did she tell anyone what career she plans on pursuing? She didn't tell me any of these things, but she knows my answers to all of those questions," James thought aloud.

"You're right James," said Marlene. "She does know everything about me, but I don't know anything about her."

"That's more than a little exaggeration," said Sirius. "So she can ramble off a few facts about each of us, big deal. Lily just doesn't share those shallow facts about herself; that doesn't mean we don't know her. And she doesn't know any of us inside out; we're all too complex for one person to understand us completely. She's just a lot harder to fathom than most because she's been through more than any of you can imagine.

"Remus and I understand because we're just like her, just not quite as private. You guys don't understand, can't understand because you haven't been through the same kind of shit the three of us have had to deal with. You all stared at me in shock at that Quidditch game when I accurately pegged Lily as a bird because you didn't think I was capable of having such deep insight to another person's psyche, but really it wasn't insight into her personality, but a little bit of my own, the part that sympathizes with her.

"So just shut up about not knowing Lily because she does the best she can. As James pointed out, she has a problem letting people in. She's been hurt, scarred and she's afraid to let go of her carefully balanced control. When she's ready she'll tell you; so just leave her alone until then."

The occupants of the room digested what Sirius had said and then nodded slowly in assent.

"Okay," said James hesitantly. "You're right Sirius. There's no sense in worrying about her now; she can take care of herself. Let's all just go to bed; I think we all have a lot to think about."

The others agreed; the girls left and the boys prepared for bed. Soon the Marauders were all back in their old beds and filled with content, at least in that regard, they all drifted off to sleep.

Two hours later, around two in the morning, James was awoken by a familiar face. Well at least he thought the face was familiar; he couldn't really tell because he didn't have his glasses on.

"Lily?" he asked sleepily as he reached for his glasses.

"Yeah," she whispered back. "Can I ask you for a favor?"

"Anything," promised James as he sat up.

"Make love to me," requested Lily in a throaty whisper.

"What?!" asked James in shock.

"You heard me," said Lily as she pulled her shirt over her head.

James was still in shock as she climbed into his bed, on top of him, pushing him back into the pillows.

"Are you drunk?" he asked as her cold fingers wandered underneath his tee-shirt and over the planes of his chest and her mouth explored his neck.

"No," she answered swiftly before she resumed her activities.

When James failed to react to her advances, Lily lifted herself up so that she was hovering right above her boyfriend. "Come on James; I know you want this."

Groaning James quickly flipped them over so that he was on top of her. "I don't know what is wrong with you, but you need to stop because I have always been a gentleman towards you before but I don't know how much longer I can hold out when you look at me like that, and I can't bloody think straight! But Lily, we agreed that we weren't ready to have sex, and we both know that this is not how you would want your first time to go. We're still in school; this is my bed in my dormitory where my best mates are sleeping only a few meters away. I don't know what's gotten in to you, but really I'm going to give in to my hormones any minute now because you are too bloody attractive for your own good."

"I love you," said Lily softly.

"That's really not helping the situation right now," said James tensely as he tried with all his willpower to focus his thoughts on something other than the lacy bra his girlfriend was flaunting right in front of his face.

Lily slowly stroked the tense muscles of James' arms that were on either side of her head and said, "Really, you are the best boyfriend I have ever heard of; I don't deserve someone like you."

"I think we need to talk Lily," said James as he rolled over onto his back so that he and Lily were just barely touching. "And I also think you need to put a shirt on before I change my mind."

"I don't know where I threw it," said Lily as she leaned over the side of the bed trying to see where her shirt had landed.

"Here just take mine," James offered quickly. He really was going to lose control soon; it was a miracle he had lasted as long as he had.

"Fine, what do you want to talk about?" Lily asked in resignation as she rolled onto her side and leaned her head on her palm.

"How about the fact that you didn't tell anyone you're an animagus," suggested James as he leaned on his side and faced her.

Lily sighed. "You know I can't tell anyone about my special abilities."

"No," snapped James. "I know that you can't tell anyone else about your abilities and I know that you can tell me."

"I don't think you understand how dangerous it was for me to even tell you as much as I did. Dumbledore suggested that I confide in someone, but he warned me not to reveal too much. There are people out there whose sole purpose in life is to find the Guardians and take their power."

"What do you mean they can take your power?"

Lily cast several silencing charms around James' bed before she continued. "All wizards are born with magical abilities; they may be latent for several years but they exist from the conception of the baby. There are many theories about this, but the oldest one is that magic runs through the blood. This is supported by the numerous potions and rituals, both dark and light, that employ blood as an agent of magic. This was the start of the belief in "pure blood" and "dirty blood."

"So obviously magic cannot be separated from an ordinary wizard; the only way to do it would be to drain a wizard of all of his blood, which obviously means death. In contrast Guardians have normal magical abilities until birth when well… the best way to describe it is that they are infused with a second soul. It is kind of like the Hindu beliefs in reincarnation except that instead of just one person being born over and over again each time a Guardian dies their spirit lives on in the communal spirit. So when I die the next person in line will have all of my greatest achievements."

"What kind of achievements?"

"I told you this before, it's not like having the twelve uses of dragon blood memorized; it's like coming up with the twelve uses of dragon's blood. Dumbledore played a big role in the research of dragon's blood and his successor will know all that research as if he did it himself. The successor will know that there are actually fourteen uses for dragon blood, but two of the uses are too dangerous for the public to know.

"It's stuff like that, knowledge hidden from all those who can't handle it that drives the anti-Guardians, we call them the Assailants and they call themselves the Lords, to hunt us down."

"You still haven't explained how they can steal your power," James pointed out.

"I'm getting there," replied Lily. "So this spirit is not as tightly bound to the Guardians as normal magic is. It's like the difference between tying a knot and tying a bow; the knot stays no matter how hard you tug at the ends, but with a little effort the bow can be undone."

"Is it easy?"

Lily grimaced. "The power cannot be stolen; the Guardian has to willfully give it up."

"Who would give it up?"

"Someone who is being tortured until they can no longer stand it. Do you remember that day I had that really bad headache in Defense? That was because a Guardian was killed that day. It hurt me because we are all connected and when one of us dies or another is born it causes a major shift in the magical flow. Anyway, he had been discovered by the Assailants and was tortured to death because he refused to give up his power. The Assailants are merciless and totally absorbed with acquiring the power of a Guardian. A few have accomplished it in the past and it never ended well."

"Is Voldemort an Assailant?"

"No, it's a hereditary group, kind of like the Guardians except we pass on membership randomly and they progress from father to son. Voldemort's father was a muggle, so he couldn't possibly be an Assailant," Lily explained. James sighed in relief until Lily continued, "That doesn't mean that he isn't working with any. I'm also nearly positive that he has a few Guardians on his side."

"Snape," spat James.

"And Richard Gills," added Lily. "And Richard's mentor from his American boarding school Winston Reynolds. Possibly one other from Britain, and due to Reynolds' influence as a Guardian possibly several from other countries as well. Dumbledore isn't quite sure of the extent of Voldemort's association with the Guardians. However, if he is working with the Assailants then his connection with them is limited because there is no way he would have any support from Guardians if they knew he was working with Assailants. All Guardians have a hatred for the Assailants that is almost as deep and intuitive as the Guardian magic itself. So, fortunately for us it's unlikely that Voldemort will get his hands on any Guardian powers."

"What is it that you guys do again?"

"Magical energy exists in two forms. A wizard takes it in when it's in its usable form and when he uses a spell he releases it in a new form. This form can't be used by wizards, it has to be recycled back to its usable form. Guardians are able to absorb magic in its used form and convert it to the usable form. This was started at the very beginning of magic by Merlin and other great wizards around the world. They had noticed that their magical abilities were waning, and ultimately they figured out the reason and formed the Guardians. They refused to share their knowledge of how to recycle magic because they had realized that they were much more powerful with that ability and didn't want to share. And because I know you're going to ask, Guardians are much more powerful because we absorb more energy than we expend, giving us more magic to work with. More magic lets us perform more complicated spells. I shouldn't be telling you this, you really do know too much already," said Lily.

"I don't think a little bit more information will kill me," said James in jest.

"You don't understand, it could kill you. Voldemort knows that I am one of the Guardians, whether from Snape or Gills I don't know. He also knows that I'm dating you because I'm sure that he has spies in Hogwarts, or at least his follower can get information for him from their children. If he knew that you knew that I'm a Guardian it would make you even more of a target than you already are. Voldemort won't hesitate to torture and murder you for information and neither will the Assailants if they discover you. I haven't stopped regretting that I've told you anything since that day I told you."

"Why?" asked James in alarm.

"Because it's possible that I've sentenced you to your death by telling you. And I have to ask for a favor."

"What?" asked James wearily, afraid that she was going to erase his memories of anything she had told him.

"If they do find you, you can't tell them anything, even if they torture you. I hate having to ask that of you because it shouldn't be your burden to bear. If it wasn't so vitally important I wouldn't ask you to remain silent to your death," said Lily very softly as tears gathered in her eyes. "I'm so sorry."

"I'm not," said James sincerely.

"You should be; you should hate me for giving you this burden," Lily uttered emphatically.

"But I don't," said James. "I don't mind _sharing_ this burden with you; I love you and want to know you better than I know myself."

Lily looked at him sharply, "You don't want to know me that well; I don't want to know me that well."

"Why won't you let me in Lily?" asked James in frustration. "I don't care about your flaws; I love you more because of them. I'm not going to let you down."

"I trust you James, honestly I do, but there are ugly parts of me. I don't mean that part that loves toying with men's feelings; I mean the part of me that could kill a person."

"You couldn't kill a fly," said James firmly.

"See, you don't understand!" cried Lily. "I know spells that could tear you apart atom by atom and certain parts of me would enjoy it! I can never get too angry or scared because if I let myself go I could do so much destruction without even really meaning to. That time I went up against Remus, I wasn't an animagus at the time, if I had unleashed my true potential I would have killed him and probably you and Sirius too. I'm not all good James; in fact, a huge portion of me is very very sadistic and evil."

"That is inherited evil. You don't have to let yourself be a slave to that side of you; in fact you control it extremely well."

"That doesn't mean there isn't the potential monster inside of me."

"Remus has a potential monster inside of him as well," said James as he gazed in the general direction of where he knew Remus was sleeping. "Yet, you have accepted him as a good person without question. Why can't you accept yourself that same way?"

"If you can believe it, I used to hate myself a whole lot more than I do now. It was you who made me see that I was worth being loved," whispered lily as she gazed deeply into the eyes of the man who had saved her from herself. "I don't know what I would have done if you had really given up on me."

"I tried and I couldn't do it," admitted James. "There has always been something about you I have been drawn to, like a magnet."

"I love you James, so much, and I owe you my life."

"We can call it even because I am extremely indebted to you as well. You made me grow up and I will never be able to repay you for that."

"I think we should just call it even," said Lily with a little smile.

"Okay," said James softly. "So what is your animagus form exactly? I know it's a bird…"

"Peregrin falcon," she answered with a proud smile.

"Since when?" asked James.

"February, not long after your birthday," she said. "Severus and I both finally got it. We had been working on it since last March, almost a whole year."

James felt like someone had punched him in the gut. She had been working with Snape, sharing this experience with only him, only Snape. He was the only who knew. Snape and not him.

Lily didn't miss the painful expression that had crossed James' face. "I wouldn't have told him on my own; he only knows because he was there. You don't know how many times I wanted to tell you…"

"But you didn't," he accused. "Why?"

Lily frowned as she said, "It never seemed the right time. And like I said before, I think you know too much already."

James groaned and rolled back onto his back, staring at the red canopy above his bed. Lily crawled over to him and laid her head and hands on top of his chest. She looked at him quizzically, waiting for an explanation.

"I hate it when you say that," said James. "I wouldn't ask if I didn't want to know."

"I've told you more about myself than I've told anyone else outside of my family," said Lily defensively.

"Then why does Sirius know more about you than I do," James challenged her as he sat up, jostling her.

Lily sat up too and said in confusion, "He doesn't."

"It always seems like he does."

"He and I just have a lot in common. We had a few in depth conversations when he stayed at my house over the summer, and he got some first-hand knowledge of what my home life is like. Don't be jealous."

Avoiding the jealously comment James said, "Speaking of your home, what are you doing over vacation? Sirius, Remus, and I always go to my family's house in Italy and my mum said it would be okay for you to come too if you wanted."

"I doubt I'll be able to," said Lily slowly. "I'm sure Clarice has some sort of torment planned for me every second of the holiday. But if I have a free moment you can be sure that I will be there."

"Moving on to your parents, when do I get to meet them?" he asked as he reached forward and ran his fingers through her hair.

"Why would you want to meet my parents?" asked Lily as if the question was absolutely ridiculous.

"What do you mean?" asked James who was just as confused as Lily was.

"You have already met Daisy, Benjy and the rest of my friends; they are the only ones whose opinions actually matter to me."

"I met all of those people before we started dating and Daisy yelled at me the whole time. You met my parents, why can't I meet yours?"

"I don't want you to."

"Why not?"

"I just don't," said Lily evasively.

"There has to be a reason."

"No there doesn't."

"Why won't you tell me?" persisted James.

"Because there is no reason."

"Don't lie to me Lily."

"I just don't want you to, okay?"

"No not okay. I want to know why."

"I don't want to tell you why."

"So there **is** a reason."

"Can we please talk about something else?"

"No," said James stubbornly.

"You aren't going to like it," mumbled Lily.

"Try me."

"I can't bring you home to meet my parents because they think that I broke up with you in January."

"You told them what?!" James asked in outrage.

"They didn't want me dating a wizard! And Clarice is still planning on marrying me off after graduation; she thinks she holds the trump card by threatening Daisy's education."

"You wouldn't introduce me to your parents even if you were allowed to would you?" asked James as he looked at his girlfriend with an uncharacteristic cold gaze.

She couldn't meet his gaze.

"That's what I thought," said James as he jerked his hand away from her. "Why is it that I always give everything I have to this relationship and you give nothing?!"

"That's not true!" exclaimed Lily.

"Isn't it? I was afraid to bring you home to meet my parents, but I did it anyways."

"Your **mother** invited me to your house to meet her; you avoided asking me to that party for months!"

Dumbfounded James spluttered, "But I still wanted you to come! You don't even want me there! You're probably just going to cheat on me anyways."

Although his last sentence was mumbled, Lily heard it loud and clear as if he had shouted it at her. His words stung her like knives piercing her heart.

"Well if that's the case I may as well break up with you now so that you won't have to worry about that!" snapped Lily.

James' angry face crumpled. "You're what?"

"Breaking up with you! It's over!" Lily jumped off of James' bed and fled his room, going through the window again.

"She broke up with me?" James asked the darkness in a disbelieving whisper.

**A/N. Surprised?**

**What do you think will happen next?**

**What do you ****want**** to happen next?**

**Whose side are you on? Is James right or is Lily? **


	35. Cupid's Evil Twin Brother

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Harry Potter or Harry Potter related copyrights.**

**A/N. So here are the results of the poll from the last chapter:**

**Lily's side: 4**

**James' side: 8**

**Sirius' side: 1**

**Couldn't decide: 2**

**Wow! I find it fascinating that James has twice the support Lily does. Anyways, here is the result of reviewing! I updated literally minutes after I received the 20****th**** review. Enjoy!**

"Do you think Lily has come back yet?" Marlene whispered to Alice the following morning. They were friends with the other girls in their dorm, but this was none of their business.

"Look," Alice whispered back. "Her bed has been slept in."

"Crap, her runners are gone. This could be worse than we thought. What do you think she's hiding? It must be bad."

At that moment Lily entered their dormitory very sweaty.

"Have a good run?" asked Alice cautiously.

"Not really. I need to talk to you guys," said Lily very softly.

"What's up?" asked Alice as she took a seat on the edge of Lily's bed.

Marlene followed suit and Lily took a seat in between her two friends.

Lily took a deep breath, rallied her courage, and began, "I came up with seven different lies to tell you guys why I became… what you just found out I became. But, in the end I decided that I didn't want to lie to you, so I'm just going to tell you that I can't tell you why. Please believe me when I say that I would tell you if I could."

Alice and Marlene exchanged a glance behind Lily's back.

"Okay," said Alice unsurely. "If you're positive."

"I am," said Lily confidently.

"What else is up?" asked Marlene. "You look really upset."

"That was it," Lily lied plastering a small smile on her face. "I don't know why I was so nervous about talking to you guys. I guess I just exaggerated everything as usual."

"Why don't you go shower Lily; you're all gross!" said Alice.

"Okay, will you guys wait for me?" Lily questioned them as she gathered her things.

It took a minute for Alice to answer because she was very surprised by the question. "Of course we'll wait for you Lily; we always do."

Lily just nodded gratefully and walked into the loo.

"So obviously something else is going on," Marlene whispered excitedly to Alice.

"She seems so insecure; just like she used to be," mused Alice.

"How are we going to get her to tell us what's up?"

"She'll tell us in her own time; there's no sense in trying to force it out of her."

Marlene grinned wickedly, "We could always force it out of James. I'm sure he knows whatever it is and he's much easier to crack."

"I think I'll just wait until Lily tells me herself," stated Alice sensibly.

"Tomato tomato," said Marlene pronouncing the word two different ways.

-----

Lily tried her absolute best to act normal as she and her friends walked down to breakfast together, but when you've lived for someone for nearly seven years it's obvious when a person is faking. With Lily it was harder to discern, but Alice and Marlene were already clued into her mood.

However, they weren't expecting her to take the seat across from James when they walked over to their usual spot at the table. No matter what petty argument they were having they always sat next to each other whenever possible.

All of the friends looked from James to Lily and back again multiple times with very shocked expressions. James and Lily both just stared at their food, refusing to look at anyone or anything else. Needless to say, breakfast was a silent affair.

Class was not different. Lily explained about not being able to explain to Sirius, Remus and Peter right after breakfast, but didn't say much else for the rest of the day.

She smiled when other people did and laughed at jokes; she took notes and ran the Prefect meeting efficiently, but all her friends could see that she was just going through the motions without her usual passion.

James was very different. He just sulked wherever he went. He doodled on his parchment during half of his classes and slept through the rest. All of his comments had a very caustic undertone. During the Prefect meeting he just balanced on the two legs of his chair the whole time looking bored.

After the meeting Lily gathered her things and left without a backwards glance.

After he got over the shock that Lily broke up with him, he became angry. What right did she have to break up with _him_? **He** should have been the one breaking up with **her**. **He** hadn't done anything wrong; he was the perfect boyfriend!

Still thinking these angry thoughts James let his chair fall back to the ground with a satisfying thunk. Then he left and returned to his dormitory, stomping the whole way.

"What's up with you mate?" asked Sirius as he paused in searching through his trunk to watch James throw himself onto his bed and stare at his canopy moodily. "You've been acting weird all day."

"No I haven't," snapped James defensively.

Shrugging it off Sirius said, "Do you know where I stashed my mirror? I can't find it anywhere and I wanted to see where you were."

"Why?"

"Because tonight's the full moon," said Sirius as though it should be obvious. "We were supposed to leave an hour ago."

"I had a Prefect meeting."

"Why didn't you just tell Lily? I'm sure she could have run the meeting without you," said Sirius.

"I doubt it," lied James huffily.

"Whatever," murmured Sirius. "Let's just go."

"Where's Wormtail?" asked James.

"He'll meet us at the willow; he just ran down to the library to return a late book before ol' Pincey castrates him," said Sirius with a laugh as he imagined the scene. "But seriously, where's my mirror? I can't find it anywhere."

"I have it," muttered James darkly.

"You have it?" asked Sirius suspiciously. "Why do you have it?"

"Couldn't find mine," lied James.

"What good would it do to have one if the other was lost? Who would you call?" asked Sirius, seeing through the lie.

"No one obviously!" shouted James. "Let's just go already!"

Sirius just followed his surrogate brother out of the dormitory under the invisibility cloak.

"Aren't you going to say good-bye to Lily?" asked Sirius as he stopped in the common room.

"No," hissed James violently. He didn't even glance towards Lily as she sat doing her homework in an armchair near the fire. "Come on."

Out of the corner of her eye Lily saw the portrait hole open without anyone coming in or out. While the rest of the house had just accepted the oddity as magic, Lily knew better.

"Very clumsy," mumbled Lily under her breath. She was hoping Sirius would be careless like that so she would know when he had left.

She waited one minute more and then went up to her dormitory.

She arranged her features into a look of panic and shouted, "Oh my gosh! I forgot that I was supposed to tutor that kid in astronomy tonight! I'll see you guys later!" she called to the girls as she ran out.

"She works too much," muttered Dorcas. The rest murmured in agreement and continued on with their activities.

After Lily cleared the common room she slowed down so that she wouldn't run into Sirius or… him. By the time she got outside she saw the three of them in their animal forms go into the passage beneath the Whomping Willow. She quickly ran into the Forbidden Forest and transformed herself. She sighed as she stretched her arms out into wings. When she was a bird everything was perfect; every feather was aligned. Being human was harder; sometimes things just didn't work out.

Lily flapped her wings and slowly rose out of the forest. Once she had cleared the trees and their branches, she beat her wings faster and gained altitude quickly. Then she coasted the whole way to the Shrieking Shack. With her acute hearing she could hear the four boys horsing around. She settled herself on a branch not far from the haunted house and watched as she did every full moon. If anything happened she was ready to intervene at once.

As they usually did, the four animals soon grew tired of the confined space of the shack and ran into the forest. Lily silently followed them, making sure that she kept her distance. She had learned from her first experience in the forest and since then made sure that she didn't get too close to Padfoot.

The night progressed without any problems whatsoever. Around one, confident that the boys would be fine, Lily flew back to the castle. Seeing the no one was in the common room she let herself in through the window that had been thrown open in the hopes of a nice spring breeze.

She put her pajamas on and drifted off into sleep. She was plagued by nightmares the whole night.

-----

The next day passed the same way; James sulked, and Lily tried too hard to act normal. For a long time their friends tolerated their strange behavior because they didn't want to get in the middle of whatever silent argument James and Lily were having. However, they all ultimately got fed up. After dinner the Marauders cornered James in their dormitory without knowing that Alice and Marlene were doing the exact same thing to Lily.

"What's up with you and James?" Marlene demanded to know.

Across the common room and up a few flights of stairs Sirius demanded the same information from James saying, "Mate, what's going on between you and Lily?"

"Nothing," muttered James as he played with the snitch he had pocketed after Quidditch practice that day.

"Nothing's up," said Lily simply. "In fact, we broke up."

Lily calmly continued doing her essay as Marlene and Alice stared at her as if she was the Giant Squid.

"Why are you ignoring each other then?" asked Remus tiredly.

"Just are," said James curtly.

"He broke up with you?!" screeched Marlene. "I'll wring his neck!"

"I broke up with him," clarified Lily.

"Whatever it is you're fighting about, you might as well go apologize and make up. It's not like you don't know that you'll cave in eventually anyway," reasoned Peter.

"She's the one who's wrong; not me," said James childishly.

Sirius laughed in a bark-like fashion and said, "You say that every time the two of you fight, but then ultimately you realize you were wrong, admit to it, and then the two of you are back in happy couple land."

"Happy couple land?" asked Remus questioningly as he turned to Sirius.

"I'll bet you can't even tell that I just made that up on the spot," said Sirius with a toothy grin.

"Why would you break up with him?! You're so bloody in love with him the rest of us can't stand it!" shrilled Marlene. She didn't like this revelation; she saw James and Lily as the perfect couple and if they could break up then what chance did her relationship with Sirius have?

"He couldn't take it anymore," said Lily as she struggled to focus on the words in front of her. "Deep down I always knew that I'd drive him away at some point; it was only a matter of time really."

James glared at his friends and stubbornly said, "I can't take it anymore. I'm not going to go crawling back to her this time."

"Right Prongs," said Remus with an eye-roll.

"No I'm serious; Padfoot I swear if you bring up that pun I will throw you out the window!"

"Would it make you feel better if you threw Lily out of a window? You could get your anger out and she would be perfectly fine… me on the other hand, well I would just splat on the ground," joked Sirius.

"Oh Lily, don't say that," said Alice in a motherly way as she awkwardly hugged her seated friend. "You are beautiful, smart, witty, kind and loving."

"Funny how you didn't list any of my overbearing flaws," said Lily dryly.

"You could get him back if you wanted to," said Marlene with a scheming look on her face.

James grimaced at the sound of his ex-girlfriends name and the reminder of what had launched the break-up. "I wish she would go splat on the ground."

"What?" asked Sirius in disgust.

James moaned; after he had let the words out of his mouth he realized how dramatic and how wrong they were.

"What the hell are you fighting about?" asked Remus in horror. "And if you tell me it is something stupid like Quidditch or patrolling schedules or which professor would win a wrestling match, I swear I will hex you to Hogsmeade and back."

"I broke up with him," said Lily slowly and emphatically, hoping she could finally get the message across to Marlene. "He is insufferable, meaning that I can no longer suffer to be around him."

"What happened though Lily? Two days ago you were blissfully in love with him, waiting for him to come back to you," said Alice soothingly as she pulled up a chair next to Lily.

"I don't know Alice," said Lily, her sadness finally seeping through her words. She continued as Marlene perched on the edge of Alice's chair. "We're just too different I guess. He really doesn't understand me."

His eyes flashing with anger, James yelled, "Don't take her side! **She** was the one who broke up with **me**!"

"You broke up?" asked Sirius disbelievingly.

"As in you aren't dating anymore?" asked Peter with the same shock.

Sardonically James replied, "No, as in we broke each other's arms!"

"Why?" asked Remus.

"But you tell him everything!" said Alice who was very surprised.

"Not enough apparently," said Lily. "He said that he was the only one who ever gave anything to our relationship."

Marlene released a spew of curses. She ended her long tirade by saying, "That jerk! And I was beginning to actually like him!"

"She's just too difficult. I thought I could handle it, but I couldn't take it anymore," said James vehemently.

"But you love how she was a puzzle, so complex. And you love being there for her when she needs help," said Remus.

"I did; but that's over now," said James without any remorse.

"Just because we're not dating anymore doesn't mean that you have to go back to hating him. I don't want it to be awkward for you to hang out with Sirius around him," said Lily.

"Sirius, smirious," said Marlene brightly. "My first loyalty is always to you girlies; you came first!"

"Boys will never come between us," declared Alice lovingly.

"You're being stupid Prongs," Sirius said bluntly. "Don't throw away the best thing that ever happened to you."

James laughed mirthlessly. "The best thing that ever happened to me? Not even close! All she's done since I met her seven years ago is drive me crazy!"

"That's not true," said Peter resolutely. "She's been a good friend to all of us. Don't forget all that she's done for you and us."

"Oh shut up Wormtail," said James harshly.

"No you shut up Prongs!" retorted Sirius when he saw the hurt look on Peter's face. "Stop being such a bloody prick! We're just trying to make you see reason; don't take your anger out on us!"

"How about some wallowing?" asked Alice. "Tomorrow is Saturday so you don't have to do any work tonight; don't even try to use that as an excuse."

"I broke up with him," repeated Lily. "Wallowing is for the dumpee not the dumper."

"Wallowing is for any girl that used to be in a relationship and no longer is, no matter the circumstances regarding the split," announced Alice.

Agreeing Marlene said, "That's right! So off to the kitchens we go!"

Lily smiled faintly and allowed herself to be dragged down to the kitchens for some delicious baked goods.

"You're right," said James defeated. "I'm sorry guys. I shouldn't let a girl come between us; friends come first."

"Except when it comes to Lily Evans," Sirius pointed out. He immediately regretted the words.

"Not anymore," James said firmly. "It's finally over."

"So who's up for some night Quidditch?" asked Remus, knowing that flying would boost James' spirits like nothing else.

"Okay," said James softly.

On opposite sides of the Hogwarts grounds Lily and James grieved. Despite his outward anger and her false nonchalance, both mourned the death of their relationship. They may have tried to assuage their sadness in different ways, but they were going through the same process. They were burying their love underneath so many other things, pride… fear… pain… and most of all a loss of faith, faith in themselves, each other, and their love.

-----

"So did Lily tell you about her and James?" Sirius casually questioned Marlene as they stole a few minutes alone in the library. They had coincidently bumped into each other if anyone asked.

Without looking away from the bookshelf in front of her Marlene responded curtly, "Of course and I think Potter is a bloody moron for not going after her."

"You think this is James' fault?!" asked Sirius. He completely abandoned their charade of pretending not to talk to each other out of loyalty to their respective friends.

"Of course it is!" snapped Marlene. She too stopped pretending to look at Astronomy books and turned to look at Sirius. "Lily is emotionally crippled! James knows that and still he lets her push him away? He knows better! He knows that he has to fight for her! I've lost track of the number of times she's pushed Alice and I away, but did we ever give up on her? Of course not!"

"It's different!" protested Sirius. "You're her friends, he is her boyfriend. He shouldn't have to chase her all the time! Once in a while she should fight for him!"

"She does fight for him; every moment of every day," said Marlene in a dangerous whisper. "Do you know how much crap she takes from everyone? Do you remember Lily in first year? She was bright and bubbly, a little shy but everyone loved her because she was so happy all the time, fun to be around. She had more friends than she knew what to do with. Then second year, she hardly spoke, she hardly ate, and she almost never smiled. She pushed everyone away, and they let her, except Alice and me. She's gotten better over the years, but she could never repair those friendships. She's liked and respected by most, but she doesn't have many friends.

"Everyone talks about her behind her back and right in front of her. Most of the time she just tries to ignore it; she doesn't have the strength to fight all of them. They're jealous, so jealous it makes me sick! They wonder when the only muggleborn Head Girl is finally going to cave under pressure and give up; they speculate about why Potter ever wanted to go out with her in the first place, and they gossip about how she could possibly get the grades she does. You don't know how many people have told her that James is too good for her!"

"He obviously is too good for her!" Sirius bellowed. All the students in the library looked up at this disturbance.

After Madame Pince through Sirius and Marlene out of the library they continued their argument in a nearby classroom.

"He's too good for her?" asked Marlene in disbelief. "How can you possibly think that?"

"Because it's true! He worships the ground she walks on and she just likes him."

"She is so bloody in love with him it's pathetic!"

"Well maybe she should tell him that once in a while!"

"It's hard for her! You don't understand!"

"No I don't understand her and I don't understand you!"

"No you **never** understand me! This might possibly be the longest conversation we've had in a month and we're fighting! Our relationship isn't going anywhere Sirius," Marlene finished sadly.

Sirius sighed and ran his hand through his hair. "Maybe not, but why don't we take some time to think about it."

"Okay," said Marlene seriously. "Right now we have to be there for our friends."

"We'll talk again when James and Lily get back together."

"**If** they get back together."

"Yeah if…" Sirius trailed off. He and Marlene exchanged a worried look and then parted.

**A/N. So apparently Cupid's evil twin brother is wreaking havoc at Hogwarts. First Lily and James and then Sirius and Marlene. So question time!**

**So how do you all feel about Sirius and Marlene's relationship?**

**Is anyone surprised that James and Lily haven't gotten back together yet?**

**Has anyone changed sides because of this chapter?**

**Another 20 reviews will get you the next chapter! It's a really good one so hurry up; I can't wait to post it!**


	36. Falcons, Vultures, Princes, and Stags

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Harry Potter or Harry Potter related copyrights.**

**A/N. I am so surprised by how fast you guys reviewed! I certainly didn't think I would have to update again this fast, so kudos to you and here's your chapter!**

**But first here is a result of the poll from the last chapter:**

**James' side: 6**

**Lily's side: 9**

**Dumbledore's side: 1**

**Undecided: 2**

**So the tide has turned! Let's see how you feel after this chapter; I have a feeling that people might change their minds again… **

Somehow James and Lily were able to treat each other as if they were strangers. If they had to speak to each other due to homework or Head duties they referred to each other by their last names and spoke coldly and tersely. Their friends grieved for them. Hogwarts gossiped. Luckily, neither James nor Lily heard the viscous rumors because they didn't interact much outside of their group of close friends. Marlene and Alice kept their word; they didn't hang out with the Marauders out of loyalty to Lily. The Marauders did the same. Neither side was cruel to the other; they just simply stopped hanging out like they used to.

Finally the spring holiday arrived. Lily dreaded going home more and more with each passing second, but she knew that it would be worse for everyone if she didn't make the trip to London.

Sensing her dread Alice and Marlene tried to distract her with magazines, games, and gossip on the train ride. Nothing helped, but Lily appreciated the effort.

Forlornly Lily bid her friends good-bye and wished them a happy holiday. Then she searched the platform for her sister. Unfortunately Daisy was short and difficult to find amidst all of the parents and other family members, so in her search she found Mrs. Potter first.

"Lily dear!" said Mrs. Potter, her whole face lighting up with happiness. "How are you dear? You look so tired! They work you too hard in that school!"

Lily noted with chagrin that James obviously had failed to tell his mother about the break-up, so like him.

"I'm great," said Lily with as much enthusiasm as she could muster. It was easier because it was Mrs. Potter and her happiness spread quickly to those around her.

"James wrote me saying that you couldn't come to Italy with us; I hope you've changed your mind since then!"

"Unfortunately not," said Lily with true sadness. "I have some family obligations I can't get out of."

Marilyn Potter sighed and offered, "If your plans happen to change you just pop right over! Do you know how to travel internationally?"

Lily nodded her head and Marilyn continued, "Well after you floo to the Italian ministry you can floo over to Sardinia and then just apparate to 1031 Bella Baia Drive in Costa Rei; it's right on Cala Pira. I hope you get at least one afternoon off! The beach is beyond exquisite! I can't tell you how much time James and I spent there when he was a little boy. Mr. Potter was often working, but he joined us when he could. Anyways, it's my favorite spot in the whole world, and I think it's James' too, but I bet Hogwarts gives it a run for its money. Though the one difference that tips the scales is that you're at Hogwarts but not at Animoposto, our house in Sardinia. Isn't that the most beautiful name? Roughly translated it means 'heart place.' I'm so excited to go," she finished wistfully.

"If I can steal away I will certainly come down," promised Lily, wishing it could be true. "Well, it was nice seeing you again Mrs. Potter but I see my sister over there and I really must be going."

"Good-bye dear, I hope to see you soon," she added hopefully as she surprised Lily by hugging her.

Mrs. Potter hadn't known it at the time, but that hug was the best gift Lily could be given at that moment. It gave her just a little bit of hope back; it was like a rainbow after a storm. Although you know that the rainbow is only temporary and that there will be another storm, possibly a worse one, you just bask in the beauty of that one simple moment.

"Good-bye," replied Lily as she and Mrs. Potter separated.

"Lily!" shouted Daisy excitedly as she ran to her sister and hugged hug.

"Daisy!" Lily yelled back excitedly. No one could cheer her up like Daisy could, except for Ja… him. "I have so much to tell you!"

Lily spoke excitedly all the way to the car, not letting Daisy get a word in edgewise. The driver opened the door to the backseat of the car and Lily slid in and then shouted "Bloody hell!" when she saw the occupant of the car.

"Lillian!" said Clarice shrilly. "Mind your language."

"What are you doing here?!" said Lily as she resisted the urge to use less lady-like words.

As they were driven out of the parking lot of King's Cross Clarice answered, "Well Lillian, you seem so set against marriage that I have indulgently made new plans for your future."

After a long pause Lily realized what Clarice was waiting for. "Thank you," she muttered hatefully.

"You must enunciate," demanded Clarice. "Now try again."

"Thank you," said Lily very clearly, though it was easy to see that she didn't mean it.

"You are welcome. Now here is the updated plan. Tomorrow you will start your career as a model."

"A what?!" shrieked Lily.

"Now really Lillian, you must learn to moderate your voice," said Mrs. Evans snippily. "You will be modeling ball gowns. I found an agent for you and together we created your portfolio. Several agencies were interested in you, so we are going to meet with them starting tomorrow and you will go to the highest bidder."

"But what about school?" protested Lily.

"You needn't return to school, and don't even think about arguing with me or threatening to go anyways because you know about the leverage I have," she added as her gaze shifted to Daisy who already had her sketch book out.

Lily kept her mouth shut, feeling despair well up in her stomach.

"At least we get to stay in London for a while," chirped Daisy from Lily's side.

Lily managed a weak smile for her baby sister. "At least there's that."

"We're staying at Buckingham Palace too," exclaimed Daisy. "Dad has another case to work on for the royal family."

Lily was too absorbed in her thinking to answer. Daisy went back to drawing, feeling guilty that she was the reason Lily wouldn't be able to go back to Hogwarts, and Clarice began her usual mindless chatter.

-----

Lily had analyzed the situation a million times and from every angle and hadn't yet found a solution. But that was when she thought she had until August to figure out a way to go to a university, now she was out of time and her brain was racing at fantastic speeds trying to think of something helpful.

After having greeted the Queen and thanked her for her hospitality with flawless manners, Lily wandered out into the gardens hoping to get lost in a maze of shrubbery and never be found again.

Lily was so totally engrossed in her thoughts that she didn't even notice a handsome young man sitting beneath a tree just off of her path. Although he had War and Peace open in his lap, he hadn't really been reading it and that was why he noticed the beautiful and distracted girl one year his senior only meters away from him.

"Lily Evans?" he inquired as she passed him.

She didn't ignore him intentionally; her thoughts just encompassed all of her focus so she wasn't able to hear the call from the young man.

He closed his book and jumped up from the grass and jogged over to Lily. He put his hand on her shoulder when she didn't respond to his call a second time.

The physical contact abruptly snapped Lily out of her thoughts and acting on pure instinct she grabbed the unknowing young man and flipped him onto the grass.

As he groaned, she gasped horrified at what she had just subconsciously done.

"Your highness! Are you okay?" she asked as she reached to help him up.

He smiled as he grabbed her hand and said, "It's nice to see you again too."

"I'm really sorry," she said emphatically as he regained a standing position.

"No harm done," he assured her. "Just don't tell my brothers you managed to knock me down like that; they would surely take the mickey out of me."

"I won't tell your brothers if you don't ever mention this to my mother," Lily stipulated.

"Agreed," said the prince as they shook hands. "So how are things?"

"Well," began Lily. "I just broke things off with my wonderful boyfriend of six months and I'm kind of not over it. Actually I'm downright depressed."

"Did you love him?" asked the young prince.

"Yes, and the problem is I still do love him quite a bit," said Lily sadly.

"Then why did you break up with him?"

"We were fighting," sighed Lily. "He said some stupid things, I got mad and said some even more stupid things and then I did the ultimate stupid thing and told him it was over."

"And now you're miserable," concluded Edward.

"And now I'm miserable," confirmed Lily.

"Well I have something that might cheer you up. There is a play that is premiering on Friday, here in London, and because it was written by one of my distant relations I am required to go. He writes a great many plays and I go to all of them to keep his son, a man named William Hornsby who is just a few years older than I am, company. For this play I have a date, but William does not. If you would like I could ring William and let him know that he no longer has to go stag," offered Edward.

"That would be marvelous," said Lily. "Thank you very much."

"So how is your fencing game?" asked Edward slyly. "I do hope you have improved since our last match."

Lily blushed as she remembered her abominable performance at their last encounter several years ago. "I'm afraid I haven't been able to practice much at all."

"Then we'll have to rectify that immediately," said the grinning prince. "Off we go!"

Then he grabbed Lily's hand in a friendly way and the two teens ran off to practice their fencing. Lily forgot her troubles for an afternoon and Edward put off reading his least favorite novel.

-----

"Why are we here again?" drawled James to his mother as they stood outside of a theater in London.

"Your father and I think that you should be well-rounded and cultured! That is why we are taking you to the theater!" snapped Marilyn as James uttered his thousandth complaint of the evening.

"But I'm not even packed for tomorrow," said James again.

"The _servants_ are packing for you right now," hissed Mrs. Potter. "Now stop complaining and enjoy this mu- new experience. When we get home you can write a letter to Lily all about it and stop moping because you haven't seen her all week."

James shut up at the mention of his ex-girlfriend. His parents knew he was sad because he was separated from the love of his life; they just didn't know how separated they two were.

"But why are we standing outside of the theater?" Sirius asked, genuinely confused. "Won't the play take place inside?"

Taking an entirely different tone, Marilyn pleasantly replied, "This is the premier of the play and is going to be very well attended. It is lucky that Mr. Potter's friend in Mug- Human Relations Department had another commitment tonight and gave them to us. Anyway, I am told that this is what is done; everyone stands outside of the theater waiting for important people to arrive and walk on this crimson carpet into the theater."

"Strange customs," said Sirius as he adjusted his tux.

"All part of the experience," said Mrs. Potter lightly as she glared at her sullen son.

Suddenly the reporter who was covering the event began speaking in a loud and clear voice. "And now the beautiful people are beginning to arrive! In this first limousine is…"

For ten minutes James tuned out the names and inane facts that the reporter spewed. Then his heart skipped a beat as he heard her name.

"Accompanying His Royal Highness Prince Edward is his distant relative William Hornsby the sixth, son of William Hornsby the fifth, tonight's honored playwright. William attends every one of his father's plays, although his father does not, believing that it is bad luck for a playwright to see his play on the first night. However, as always Mr. Hornsby will be present at the reception to receive commentary. This evening William, one of England's richest and most popular bachelor's, is escorting Miss Lillian Evans, a beautiful young lady and the daughter of famous attorney Albert Evans. Miss Evans has been gracing the elite social scene of England since her debut two years ago. However, I don't think she has ever been on the arm of such an eligible and handsome man. These two royal couples conclude the parade of distinguished guests tonight; please stay tuned for live coverage of the reception at eleven. This is Antoinette Vives saying farewell until then."

Two shocked faces turned towards James after this announcement. As James just stared at the ground in anger, Sirius explained, "Lily broke up with James three weeks ago; she isn't cheating on him."

"Oh," said Mrs. Potter sadly.

"If it wasn't meant to be, it wasn't meant to be," said Mr. Potter as he put a comforting hand on his son's shoulder. "Now it appears like everyone is moving into the theater; let's go and find our seats. Ernest assured me they were excellent."

Ernest hadn't lied; they were amazing seats. In fact they were so amazing that they were in the balcony section adjacent to the royal seats. James was in agony as he had a clear view of "That Prick," as James had taken to calling him in his head, touching Lily. His heart broke just a little bit more as he watched helplessly as "That Prick" boldly took Lily's gloved hand in his own. He didn't think there was any greater pain than what he was suffering when he saw "That Prick" whisper something in Lily's ear time after time and he saw her laugh in response. James was sure that he was in hell as he saw William share his extremely feminine theater binoculars with Lily so that she could see more easily.

James was interrupted from his staring as his mother cooed beside him. He briefly glanced to the stage and saw two of the characters kissing; he had no idea why they might be kissing or who they were because he hadn't seen a single moment of the play.

When James' attention returned to Lily, he felt as if he was being stabbed repeatedly by blunt knives. "That Prick" was kissing her! He was kissing Lily! His Lily! James' hand immediately flew to his pocket where he kept his wand. His heart plummeted as he realized that his mother had confiscated Sirius' and his wands so that they couldn't get into trouble. The image burned into his retinas, but James found that he couldn't look away.

Then suddenly the lights came on. James' view was interrupted as the people around him stood up and clapped. James couldn't believe that the first act was over already. By the time James had stood up and found an ideal spot to look over at Lily she was gone. Assuming that she had gone to the loo or to find some refreshment, James went with his parents and Sirius to the lobby, hoping and yet dreading to see Lily there.

Either James' dearest wish or his darkest nightmare came true. Lily was standing in the middle of the lobby chatting with a socialite, looking like her path to the ladies' room had been interrupted. Sirius saw this too, and directed Mr. and Mrs. Potter away from their son under the guise of wanting some of that fizzy liquid muggles drank.

Breathing deeply and swallowing his nervousness, James strode confidently across the marble floor.

Lily's heart skipped a beat as she heard his voice behind her. She couldn't mistake that voice; she was sure that even if she didn't hear it for years, she would recognize it in an instant.

_Why was he here?!_ screamed her mind.

The socialite excused herself as James had requested and Lily turned to face him; she hadn't even heard what he had said because she was so distracted by the sound of his voice.

"Hello," he said, his face unreadable.

"Hello," said replied breathily.

"What do you think of the play so far?" he asked, his eyes flashing dangerously.

"I love Eva's character, but don't think that she is a good match for George. He may love her now, but I'm sure that he will soon tire of her needy personality and want to change her. Then, when she resists, as she inevitably will, George will just give up on her and look for someone easier," said Lily as she gazed into the eyes she loved most.

"You know the ending," stated James coolly.

"Yes."

"Did a little birdie tell you?" asked James sharply.

"No," said Lily coldly. "He is more of a very large falcon."

"A bird of prey much like yourself."

"Birds of a feather flock together," quoted Lily.

"So it would seem. It appears like birds of your feather flock very closely and very quickly. I take it that falcons don't mate for life?" he questioned with barely concealed malice lingering in his words.

"Your research is faulty; falcons do in fact stand by their partners once they find someone worthy of their affection. Sometimes the first bird to woo is not that one."

"No, perhaps not," admitted James curtly. "But I fail to see how a _peregrine falcon _could possibly be interested by the courting of a vulture."

"The falcon may not have a choice," Lily reminded him. "Among all vultures, this one may be the least offensive. And unlike a _stag_, at least the vulture is in the same biological family as the falcon."

"Darling," came a charming voice. The voice was soon followed by an arm that wrapped around Lily's waist. "Who is this?"

"This is an acquaintance of mine from school," explained Lily. "William this is James Potter, James William Hornsby the sixth."

"Wonderful to meet you," said William as he sized James up during their brief but tense handshake. "I'm sorry to interrupt, but Act II is about to start, so we had better get back to the balcony Lily. I just know that you are going to love these next couple of scenes. The actress who plays Eva is so talented; I was at one of the rehearsals…"

James could no longer hear the conversation as "That Prick" led the love of his life away. James stared at Lily's back, just imagining what it would be like to hold her in his arms. He could almost hear the rustle of the fabric of her dress as he pulled her close to him, almost feel her long finger entwined in his unruly hair, almost hear her moan into his mouth as he gripped her hips the way he knew would drive her crazy. Then suddenly she was gone.

A moment later, Sirius found him, in the same spot she had left him, and dragged him back to their seats to watch the second act. James knew that he should watch the play because he would only find torment waiting for him in the next balcony, but only five minutes into the first scene he couldn't help himself; he glanced over. He soon wished that he hadn't.

He almost wished that "That Prick" was snogging Lily senseless because James would know that that wasn't his Lily; his demure, sensible, conscientious Lily would never cause such a scene. James could laugh at such a ridiculous scene, knowing that "That Prick" wasn't kissing the same Lily he knew. He would be able to imagine some other girl with red-hair sucking the face off of the attractive bachelor who was only meters away.

Alas, such a scene was not taking place. It seemed as if Lily was cold in her strapless dress because "That Prick's" tuxedo jacket was draped over her shoulders and his arm with it. James thought he would go mad with the pain that erupted in his chest. He was sure that if he wasn't in such a public place he would be rolling around on the ground screaming in pure, unadulterated agony.

Abruptly he turned away from the touching scene and was determine to watch the remainder of the play. The effort nearly killed him, but James' eyes did not wander from the stage until the curtain fell and the lights came back on.

"Now how about some supper?" asked Mr. Potter as they waited for their driver to bring around their car. James hadn't even noticed that he had left the theater; Sirius must have guided him.

"That sounds lovely," said Mrs. Potter as she watched her son carefully to gauge his reaction.

Three heads swiveled as James turned his head at the sound of a familiar laugh.

"I just knew you would love the ending," William said in a booming voice. "I just knew it!"

"How did you ever guess I wasn't one for happily ever afters?" trilled Lily.

"You? And such girly notions?" asked Edward with a laugh. "Don't make me laugh!"

"But didn't you just love the part where George threatens to kill himself unless Eva will call off her wedding to Count Rugen?" inquired William.

"I thought that part was ghastly!" said Edward's date.

"I loved it," said Lily in contrast. "It made me change my mind about George completely. He redeemed himself."

James wasn't able to hear anymore because the quartet had gotten into their limousine. James felt as if his heart had shattered and the shards were stuck in his chest. He hardly noticed as he automatically got into the car and was driven to a restaurant for a late supper.

"I think we should stay the night in a mug- normal hotel here in London," said Mrs. Potter excitedly after dinner. "I am so exhausted and don't relish the idea of driving all the way home. We could apparate, but Jinks would still have to drive the car home and I'm sure he is tired as well. And besides, this way we'll be able to get to the Ministry very quickly tomorrow; the house elves can just bring all of the luggage."

"Whatever your heart desires dear," said Mr. Potter indulgently as he smiled at his wife.

"Thank you darling," said Mrs. Potter sappily as she placed a chaste kiss on her husband's lips.

After the group settled down in a luxurious suite in a muggle hotel that Marilyn found fascinating, Sirius found James in his room watching the telly.

"Why are you torturing yourself?" Sirius inquired as he leaned against the doorframe with effortless grace.

"I'm not torturing myself," muttered James resentfully as he continued watching television.

Sirius launched himself onto the bed next to James and propped his head up on his hands. "You're watching the live coverage of the play reception thingy where Lily is. Why would you do that to yourself?"

James groaned and flipped onto his back so he was facing the ceiling instead of the torment device known as the television. "It's a love hate thing Padfoot."

"With you and Lily it always has been," remarked Sirius.

"But it was different before."

"Not really. You liked her so much you reached a point where you actually hated her; that was when you called her the m word, remember?"

"Yeah," sighed James. "I can't help it; I'm addicted to her."

"I noticed."

"What do you mean?" asked James as he turned his head to look at his best mate.

"Do you even know what the main character of the play we saw tonight is named?"

James searched his mind; Lily had mentioned some character, but all he could remember was the hidden meaning of her words and the way she looked in that dress of hers.

"Bill?" guessed James.

"Case in point," laughed Sirius. "The way I see it is there is only a very fine line between love and hatred and with you and Lily the line is practically invisible. Right now you somehow seemed to have found yourself on the hatred side, but you're looking over at the love side and you can see that it's obviously better on that side but you're too damn proud to jump back over to the love side and are going to suffer on the hatred side wishing you were on the love side for the rest of your life."

"Wow," said James. "That was kind of crazy, but I think I get what you're saying. It's too bad it's not that simple."

_And here we are with William Hornsby the sixth and his date socialite Lillian Evans. Are you enjoying your father's party William?_

Neither James nor Sirius continued the conversation because both of their attentions were instantly riveted on the television.

"Much more than usual," said William with a side glance at Lily. James glared as the camera angle widened to show that William's arm was around Lily's waist.

"And how about you Lillian, having a good time?" asked the reporter with a wink.

"It's been a wonderful evening," Lily assured reporter Antoinette Vives.

"So how did you two meet?" asked Miss Vives.

"It was actually a blind date," answered William. "His Royal Majesty Prince Edward, a relative of mine, set us up."

"Speaking of the royal family, is it true that you are currently residing at Buckingham Palace Lillian?"

"This is correct," said Lily with a smile. "The royal family has requested my father's help with some legal manners. For the sake of convenience our whole family is staying with him in London while he is working."

Changing topics, Antoinette turned back to William. "Obviously Lillian is a very special young woman, you must feel very special to be escorting her this evening."

"It has been more wonderful than I can express," said William with a tender gaze at his red-headed companion.

"Perhaps your father is prophetic and he wrote the characters of Henry and Marissa as you and Lillian," stated the reporter. "For those of you at home, Henry and Marissa meet at a club in London and it is love at first sight. I won't ruin the rest of the play for you, but I will tell you that their romance matures throughout the play, and although it is secondary to the relationship between Eva and George, their relationship culminates at the end of the play in a very surprising way."

"You know what is funny, my middle name is Marissa," said Lily with a huge smile that James and Sirius knew was completely fake.

"Really, mine is Henry!" said William with great enthusiasm.

"My, my!" exclaimed the reporter. "What a coincidence! This appears to be a match made in Heaven!"

James and Sirius both winced at this statement.

"It is certainly a sign that is hard to ignore," said William slowly. As his gaze met Lily's, the reporter sensed the private moment and concluded her interview.

"I hope the two of you continue to have a _wonderful_ evening," said Antoinette. "And over here we have our dear Prime Minister! Prime Minister, do you mind if I ask you a couple of questions?"

James shut off the t.v. and returned his gaze to the ceiling.

"She doesn't really like that guy," Sirius assured James. "It was so obvious."

"Whatever. I'm just going to go to bed," mumbled James.

"Okay. See you tomorrow. What time are we meeting Remus at the Ministry?"

"Nine."

"That's so early!" whined Sirius.

"You can sleep on the beach," said James realistically.

"Sirius Black does not **sleep** on the beach! He goes after the lovely ladies in bikinis!"

"Things are that bad with Marlene?" asked James as in he paused in fluffing his pillows.

"We're taking a break right now. I can see other people, she can see other people… We said that we'd reevaluate everything once you and… after the holiday," Sirius quickly tried to cover up his slip-up.

"After what?" asked James suspiciously.

"Nothing, goodnight!" said Sirius as he ran out of the room.

"Not so fast!" said James as he jumped off of his bed and ran after Sirius. Unfortunately for Sirius, James caught up and tackled him before he could reach his bedroom. "Now what were you saying?"

"Nothing! Complete nonsense as usual!" claimed Sirius.

"I don't think so! Talk or the hair gets it!" threatened James.

"No not my hair," moaned Sirius in fake horror. "Anything but that!"

Then James started musing Sirius' hair. As predicted Sirius flipped out. As much as he tried to be nonchalant about his hair, he took extraordinary care of it and didn't like it to be messed up, unless of course it was being messed up by an attractive girl. However, James was not such a character.

"Fine I'll talk! Just leave my hair out of it!"

James ceased and Sirius said, "Marlene and I are going to talk again after you and Lily make up. We're talking a break because we are both siding with our best friends in your break-up."

James rolled off of Sirius, stood up and then helped Sirius up. "You don't need to take a break because of me. Just because I'm not dating Lily it doesn't mean that you can't be friends with her or date her friends."

"Marlene and I are probably going to break up soon anyway," shrugged Sirius. "See you in the morning."

"Yeah, see you," said James in a distracted manner. James went to bed wondering why he wasn't fighting to get Lily back because nothing seemed right when they were apart.

**A/N. Yup, they're still not back together, but who knows what the next chapter will bring? Speaking of the next chapter, it's actually not quite finished yet because as I said I wasn't expecting you to meet my quota so fast. Therefore, I'm upping the ante! ****25**** reviews will grant you the next chapter! Now here are some questions for you:**

**Which side are you on now? **

**How did you feel about Prince Edward and William?**

**For how many more chapters do you think I will keep James and Lily apart?**


	37. Home is Where the Heart Is

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Harry Potter or Harry Potter related copyrights.**

**A/N. So I told you guys I wasn't done with the next chapter yet! I couldn't believe that I had reached 25 reviews so quickly! I tried to finish it as quickly as I could, but I sadly could not update as soon as I reached 25 reviews. On the bright side, I instead wrote one of the longest chapters of the story for you! I could have split it up into two, but I was really impressed by the response to the last chapter, so I left it whole. That said, it's probably going to take me a while to get the next couple of chapters out; I have a research paper I really should be writing instead. **

**Anyways here's the poll results:**

**Lily's side: 9**

**James' side: 10**

**Neither side: 3**

**Eva's side: 1**

**Dumbledore's side: 1**

**Wow! Now James is winning but just barely! Let's see how you feel after this chapter! Enjoy!**

James was having a great time in Italy like he always did. As usual his favorite part was misinterpreting Sirius' sentiments to attractive girls. Sirius knew that James twisted his words but he had no other choice because he didn't speak Italian and James had grown up speaking it.

James was almost back to his old happy self; Animoposto just had that much power over him. It truly was where his heart was, well most of his heart. His best mates, his family, they were all there, all in one place. There was only one piece missing and then it would be perfect.

That missing piece is what brought James to the beach around one in the morning the Thursday before school resumed. He couldn't sleep so he left his bedroom to go and sit on the beach; there is nothing in the world more calming than the sound of waves gently crashing on the shore in a tranquil rhythm. Here, in the stillness of the night, James could think. He thought a lot. He thought about her, his future, N.E.W.T.s, her, the war, his dad's safety, her, pretty much anything that was bothering him.

The only thing that made this night different was the sudden crack in the night air signifying that someone had just apparated onto the beach.

James turned around to see who it was and instantly recognized the figure even though the person was meters away and the only light came from the moon because there wasn't a city for many kilometers.

"Lily," James muttered under his breath as he turned back to the ocean. He really didn't want to see her right now. James was in the middle of thinking about her and he wasn't really sure where his thoughts were leading him.

Then he heard it. He had never heard such a sound come from her mouth before. James had heard Lily cry out in frustration, in fear, in anger. He had heard her moan, sigh, sob, and laugh. He had heard all of these diverse notes but never had he heard the sound that emerged from her throat at that moment.

"James," she whimpered.

Her call was so helpless, so miserable, so tortured it sounded inhuman. The sound that traveled through the thin night air could have come from the nightingale that pierced her chest on a rose thorn in the fairytale. It could have been the last tortured murmur of a kitten as it is burnt to death. It could have been the guttural utterance of an orphaned puppy as it asks the heavens what it could have possibly done in its short life to have to be forced to watch its mother's murder. But it wasn't from any of those animals; it came from Lily, James' Lily.

James instantly forgot every negative thought he had recently had about Lily and raced over to the side of the love of his life.

"What's wrong?" he demanded to know. He was terrified; the trembling girl in front of him was not the confident woman he knew.

Lily broke at the sight of him; she took a step towards him and crumpled into his arms as sobs racked her body.

James was at a loss. He could deduce that she had been at some sort of ball because her hair was done up in intricate curls and she had a beautiful gown. Other than that he was clueless.

"What happened?" James asked again, this time softly, as he stroked her back soothingly.

"Oh James I'm so sorry," Lily cried.

"Shh… don't worry about it, just tell me what upset you so much."

"I was at a ball and there was this man…"

James interrupted, "Did he hurt you?!"

Lily's sobs grew louder. "We were kissing and oh James he wouldn't stop! He was going too far and I told him to stop but he wouldn't!"

"I'll kill him," vowed James in a terrifyingly soft tone.

"Please just stay here with me," Lily begged him. "Don't leave me alone!"

"I won't," James promised her, his sudden anger evaporating. "I won't go anywhere."

"I shouldn't have come," said Lily suddenly as she pulled away. "This… I… it's not your problem anymore. You shouldn't have to deal with my troubles anymore."

Concerned James looked at the shaking girl in front of him and said, "Why did you come here? You could have apparated anywhere in the world."

With the raw honesty clear in her face and shaky voice Lily replied, "You were the first person I thought of; I caught the guy by surprise by kicking him where it hurts most and then I ran. As soon as I was out of sight I apparated, and the first place I thought I would be safe was with you, so I came here."

"Why didn't you hex him?" asked James curiously.

"Clarice stole and broke my wand; Richard told her how to cripple my magical abilities," explained Lily in between her renewed sobs. "James, I think that man was going to rape me."

James pulled Lily close to him, glad that he was the one holding her now and unwilling to ever let her go. "Just because we aren't dating doesn't mean I don't care about you anymore," James whispered in her ear. "I'm glad you came to me."

Lily responded with a shuddering cry that shook her entire body. "I still love you so much! I didn't mean to break up with you! I just got so mad and scared and and and hurt!" cried Lily as she began hyperventilating. "You were right! I should tell you more and give more to our relationship! I'm so sorry!"

James' heart swelled as her words crashed over him. _She still loved him? And she was sorry?_

"I can't even begin to tell you how much I've missed you!" she cried still breathing rapidly and shallowly. "I can't… I can't… breathe… help…"

"What am I supposed to do?" James asked frantically. This was not the way he thought his night was going to go.

"Dress… too tight…" gasped Lily with her last bit of oxygen. She swooned, but it was not really romantic because she wasn't conscious to enjoy the feeling of James' powerful arms catching her and lowering her carefully to the soft sand.

Acting quickly while trying not to be a creepy pervert, James rolled Lily onto her side and unzipped her gown. It took his best efforts not to let his mind wander to all sorts of forbidden territory. It took him a full minute, but James finally figured out the whole corset situation. As soon as the laces of the corset were loosened sufficiently, Lily's whole body shuddered as oxygen rushed back into her lungs.

She coughed and spluttered on the sand for a minute and then blushed furiously. She wasn't able to look James in the face.

"Damn corset," Lily muttered under her breath as she sat up. "I should… ah… I should go," announced Lily as she tried to wipe her tear-streaked face with her palm.

Unfortunately her palm was incredibly sandy, so she only succeeded in getting sand stuck all over her face. James would have laughed at any other time. As it was he remained sitting next to her and gently began brushing the sand off of her face.

"Don't go yet," he whispered. At that point he was so close to her she felt his warm breath on her face. Lily shivered again but this time it was not because she was sobbing. Lily closed her eyes to both try to control her wild and horrific thoughts and emotions and to better savor the feeling of James' touch and close proximity.

"What are we doing here James?" asked Lily sadly. All of the sand was off of her face, yet James hadn't stopped caressing the beautiful features he knew so well.

"I'd say that we're getting back together," James answered after a moment of contemplation.

Lily smiled genuinely for the first time in weeks. "That's the best thing I've heard in weeks."

Then Lily proceeded to tackle her boyfriend. Since he didn't see her coming she easily overpowered him, not that he minded of course.

"Pinned you," she gloated as she towered over him, her hands on his shoulders.

"I think not," said James with a devilish smirk as he quickly flipped them over so that he was now in a position to brag.

As James looked down at the beautiful girl on the sand his words died on his lips. He was overcome with passion for her and couldn't explain it in simple sounds strung together in words. However, his lips had other plans for communicating his love. Swiftly James lowered his lips to Lily's. What started out as a gentle caress soon evolved into hungry lust. For what seemed like eternity James and Lily rolled around in the cool sand kissing each other with incredible passion.

At long last both teenagers collapsed in exhaustion. Lily couldn't remember the last time she felt so content and neither could James.

"Your heart is racing," Lily noted.

James looked at the wonderful woman lying on his chest and grinned. "It tends to do that when you're around," he said. She happily returned his smile.

"I'm all sandy," said Lily abruptly.

"That sometimes happens when you snog on the beach," James pointed out. "Especially when you snog like we do."

"Too true," remarked Lily. "Want to go for a swim?"

"A swim? It's like two in the morning."

"And I can't think of a better time for a swim. And look! It's so convenient that we just so happen to have an ocean right next to us. I guess that sometimes happens when you snog on the beach too," said Lily as she stood up.

James sat up and said, "It's a sea not an ocean."

Dismissively Lily said, "It's a large body of water and I fancy a swim in it. You're welcome to join me if you want to."

Then she promptly stepped out of her ball gown and finished unlacing her corset leaving her in just a simple and very thin shift. James' eyes nearly fell out of their sockets.

"Are you coming?" Lily impatiently called over her shoulder as she ran the short distance to the water.

"Most definitely," muttered James appreciatively.

After nearly an hour of goofing off in the Mediterranean Sea, chasing, splashing, and tickling each other while sneaking kisses in between, James and Lily dragged themselves up onto the shore.

Lily was about to simply drop down onto the sand, but James said, "If you do that you'll just be all sandy again, come with me."

Lily didn't reply but her smile was warm and she allowed James to lead her by the hand up the shore. Just out of sight of the grand mansion there was a grove of olive trees. Nestled among the olive trees was a hammock. It was invisible from the main house, but had a fantastic panoramic view of the sea.

James let Lily gawk at the moonlight beauty of the glade for a moment before tugging on her hand and leading her to the hammock which was just big enough for two. He climbed in and then kept it steady enough for her to join him. Whether it was the nature of hammocks or James' doing Lily wasn't sure but she certainly didn't complain when she ended up lying on top of her boyfriend.

"I think we need to talk," said James slowly and quietly as he took the rest of the pins out of Lily's hair. Most of them had come out with they were fooling around in the water, but quite a few still remained.

Lily murmured her sorrowful agreement and then said, "I really am sorry about breaking up with you in the first place. I was just… well you know my temper."

James smiled as he answered, "Only too well."

"While we… while we were apart I was thinking," began Lily.

"Oh?" asked James trying not to let any emotion into the monosyllable.

Lily craned her neck so that she could look James in the eye. "I do want you to meet my dad. I wouldn't make you suffer through a meeting with Clarice, but I'd like my dad to know you I think."

"Yeah?" James asked for confirmation.

"Yeah," Lily assured him. "Do you remember that time in the hospital wing before we started dating when I told you about Richard and my sucky life?"

"Yes," said James although he was unsure of where this conversation was leading.

"Well I was thinking a lot about what you said to me then about just ignoring everyone and doing what I want."

"And?" prompted James.

"As much as I really want to do that I just can't. She's my little sister James and I can't cause her that kind of pain. Imagine if it was Sirius. If you had the choice between going back to Hogwarts and Sirius having to live with his biological family, what would you pick?" asked Lily quickly when James groaned in indignation.

"I wouldn't go back to Hogwarts," James muttered.

"It's like the same thing."

"You should just threaten her with your wand until she lets you do what you want," James suggested.

"When I was eleven and I got my Hogwarts letter my dad was a little suspicious about magic. The first thing he thought of was the incredible damage that could be done. He made me promise to never use my magic to hurt anyone. I know I haven't exactly kept my promise, but he doesn't know that. He would know if I threatened Clarice and I can't let him down."

"But he's let you down so many time," protested James.

"Your dad has let you down too, but don't you still love him and try to earn his respect?"

"After all he's done to you you still love your dad?" James asked in surprise.

"Of course I do; he's my dad. He's only human; he makes mistakes too," said Lily softly. "And on another note, as I told you, Clarice snapped my wand while I was sleeping."

"So what does this have to do with anything?"

"I'm not going back to Hogwarts," said Lily so softly she wasn't sure if James heard her or not.

James could have jumped into a crazed rage and yelled and thrown a fit, but he didn't. He couldn't bring himself to upset Lily like that, not when she was looking at him like he was her world. He had a feeling that he could have shattered her at that moment; she had already suffered enough at the hands of a man that night, James refused to harm her more. So he smiled; he smiled and felt his heart break, but true love was doing what was best for the other person not what was easiest.

"Okay," he whispered as he held her tighter. She was wet and cold, but she made him feel warm inside.

Lily began to softly cry and James understood. When she compared Daisy to Sirius, he was finally able to see it from her point of view. She didn't want to stay at home, but she couldn't bring herself to leave either. James knew that he had cared about her in the past, but at the moment James realized that he truly was in love with her; he cared more about her than he cared about himself.

James just held Lily while she cried knowing that words couldn't help. At last her cries subsided but the quiet remained. Eventually the sun began peaking over the horizon.

"I've never seen the dawn before," said James as he watched the sky above the sea turn a faint pink.

"I've seen far too many; in the spirit of telling you more about myself I will tell you that when I'm frustrated or angry, pretty much every day I'm at home, I wake up super early and go out running, or recently flying. I've seen many sunrises, but never one this pretty," she finished with a sigh.

"I've been thinking too," said James. "I think I was pushing you too hard before. You know all of my secrets and I was upset that you knew everything about me and I didn't know everything about you."

"I'll do my best to tell you more but you'll just have to be patient and trust that I'm doing my best. It's hard," whispered Lily.

James smiled softly at his damaged girlfriend. "Do you still have my mirror?"

"I meant to give it back, but I just didn't…"

"Well hang on to it because you'll need it. I can't imagine going without seeing you for the next two months."

"I wish there was another way," verbalized Lily.

"Me too," agreed James. "But we'll make it work."

Lily shuddered but addressed her concern anyways, "And what about the dates I have to go on?"

James grimaced but said, "Don't ask, don't tell."

"You are the most wonderful guy I have ever met," said Lily serenely.

"I've been told that," joked James.

Then Lily's stomach rumbled very loudly.

"Hungry much?" laughed James.

"Starved. Clarice doesn't feed me often."

James laughed again.

"You think I'm joking," said Lily seriously. "But I must tell you, because I'm telling you things, that I'm totally serious. I'm on a very strict diet."

"Why?" asked James who was at a total loss; he thought Lily was perfect and gorgeous just the way she was and couldn't imagine anyone thinking something else.

"Apparently I'm not thin enough for her and she wants me to lose weight. It's sickening really what her image of the perfect body is. It is something like what my waist looked like when I got here, after not eating all day and being constrained so tightly in that corset that I couldn't breathe when I started hyperventilating."

"Well let's get you some food then," declared James as he and Lily left the hammock.

"I look like a mess," said Lily.

"My parents probably aren't up yet; they tend to sleep in when we're here and you know that Sirius and Remus won't be awake for hours. We'll get some breakfast and you can get back home before anyone sees you."

"Home. Why doesn't that word ever seem appealing to me?" Lily mused aloud.

"Some day it will," James promised as he took her hand in his and squeezed it gently.

James and Lily exchanged a very sweet and loving look, but the romantic moment was ruined when Lily, who obviously wasn't looking where she was going, tripped over a root on the path out of the small grove and with a cry went flying. James let go of her hand just in time to not join her on the ground.

Lily turned around and glared at her boyfriend as he laughed at her.

"Sometimes you are so clumsy," joked James as he extended a hand to help her up.

"Ha ha," said Lily blandly.

Then she shrieked when her feet suddenly left the ground again. "What are you doing!"

"Carrying you since you are obviously incapable of walking," replied James with a smirk at the girl in his eyes.

Indignantly Lily retorted, "I am not incapable of walking! I can walk with three books on my head for Merlin's sake!"

"Just humor me," replied James with an eye roll as he didn't put Lily down.

"You are such a prat sometimes," huffed Lily.

James just grinned and continued toward his summer home.

Both teens winced as James opened the back door to the house and it slammed against the opposite wall.

"You're going to wake everyone up!" Lily hissed.

"Don't worry; they all sleep like the dead," said James dismissively as he kicked the door closed behind him.

"Not all of us sleep like the dead," said someone.

In the dimly lit kitchen neither James nor Lily had noticed that someone was sitting at the kitchen table.

"Good morning," continued the voice with a barely concealed laugh at horrified looks on faces of her nephew and her nephew's girlfriend.

"Put me down," ordered Lily in a whisper.

Mutely James did just this.

"Lily this is my Auntie Eileen, Auntie Eileen this is my girlfriend Lily," James said awkwardly.

"I thought you two were broken up," said Eileen Potter bluntly. Eileen was an energetic and athletic woman. Her brown eyes were kind, but they had a sharp quality to them which reflected her love of danger and excitement. She was shorter than Lily, but not by much. She had dark brown hair that went half-way down her back. As was her custom, she had left it unruly and loose.

"We were," answered James as Lily blushed furiously and looked down at the ground. "We just got back together this morning, and Lily was coming in for some breakfast before she has to go back home."

Eileen smirked. "It's a pleasure to meet you Lily," she said as she calmed surveyed the two, a cappuccino in her hands.

"Good morning love!" called a man boisterously as he entered the kitchen. The man was tall, probably slightly taller than Christopher and the same height as James. Like James and Christopher he had messy black hair, though his was not streaked with gray like his brother's. He was thin, but muscular and athletic-looking. His eyes were a deep brown and bright. His whole persona had an air of excitement and playfulness.

"Morning Harry," said Eileen as her husband kissed her cheek and sat down at the table next to her.

"What's for breakfast?" he asked his wife as he took a sip out of the coffee she had placed at his usual spot. He still had not noticed his nephew.

"I'd say eggs, but I think your nephew's raging hormones are certainly on the menu," said Eileen dryly as she gazed over at the silent couple at the other end of the kitchen.

Harry laughed as he too looked over at his teenage nephew. Harry Potter was well-known for his booming laugh. When he laughed his whole body shook with the effort and his face lit up with his eyes sparkling with mirth.

"Good morning James my boy!" he called in between his rumbling chuckles.

"Shh," said Eileen as she swatted him playfully. "You'll wake Christopher and Marilyn."

"I certainly hope so! I would pay all the money in my vault to see his face if he were here right now!" said Harry with the smirk that James often wore on his own face. "In fact I may just call him right now."

"Please don't Uncle Harry; I'm begging you," pleaded James.

"And what do you have to say Lily?" asked Harry as he turned his gaze toward the redhead his only nephew was holding onto protectively.

"I don't want to get James in trouble, again," she said calmly though her cheeks were still stained a deep pink. "So if you call his parents I will be gone in an instant."

"Well we don't want that now do we," said Harry. "I want to get to know you a bit, so here's the deal. I won't turn you two in if you cook breakfast."

"Deal," agreed Lily.

"I hope you can cook because I sure can't," James muttered.

"But first Lily I'm sure you'd like to get some decent clothes on, so why don't you come with me and you can borrow some," said Eileen as she got up and motioned for Lily to follow her.

As soon as the two women were out of the room Harry began laughing again.

"What's so funny?" James asked crossly.

"You are so lucky my big brother got some last night and won't be getting up anytime soon!"

"Uncle Harry!" James whined as he cringed. "I don't want to hear about my dad getting some!"

Harry just laughed at James' discomfort.

"James, James, James," said Harry in comic disapproval. "How do you get yourself in these messes? I would have thought you were much cleverer than to get caught all the time. I certainly was never caught by my parents when I had my girlfriends over."

James smirked as he took a seat across from his favorite and only uncle. "It's not that I get caught every time, it's just that there are so many instances that I'm bound to get caught every once in a while."

Harry laughed again. "Now that's the Marauder I raised!"

James grinned. Even though he strove to gain his father's respect and approval, his desire to please and impress his uncle was just as strong.

"So tell me more about this girl," said Harry with a grin. "Actually wait a minute. You told me she was pretty, but you did not do her justice! She is downright sexy!"

"You sound like such a perv," said James in disgust. "She's like thirty years younger than you are!"

"Doesn't mean I can't appreciate something when I see it," said Harry with a huge grin as he shook his head slowly.

"So wrong," muttered James. "You can't possibly be checking out my girlfriend."

Harry just chuckled. "So give me a few facts before she comes back."

"I've already told you loads about her."

"I haven't seen you since you started dating her. I go on one little cruise over the Christmas holidays and all of a sudden I miss out on everything; serves me right I suppose," said Harry with a fake sniffle.

James rolled his eyes at his uncle's theatrics and said, "I wrote you when she agreed to date me, and when we were fighting and when we made up afterwards and when we broke up."

"True, but it's not the same as talking to you. So tell me something new that you've learned about her since you started dating; that's assuming that you talk occasionally and not just snog all the time. Did I ever tell you about the broom closet in the dungeons near the kitchens?"

"No, but trust me, I know that closet particularly well," said James with a wide grin.

Harry boomed with laughter again. He wasn't able to make any more inquiries however, because his wife and Lily had reentered the room.

"So what's for breakfast Lily?" asked Harry. "Just so you know my nephew is bollocks at cooking, so you're pretty much on your own."

"Umm…" said Lily as she went to survey the cabinets. She was unnerved by James' boisterous uncle and not quite sure how to respond. "Pancakes?"

"With some scrambled eggs on the side if you don't mind," ordered Harry.

"Harry," said Eileen in disapproval.

"Oh and some bacon for Eileen too," said Harry with a smile at his wife.

"By 'Harry' I meant 'stop torturing the poor girl', not 'don't forget my bacon,'" explained Eileen.

"I knew that," said Harry. "But I am just itching to see my brother's face, so I'm going to need a really good breakfast to keep me quiet."

"Don't listen to this prat," said Eileen kindly to Lily as she shot a warning glance at Harry. "He'll keep his mouth shut, so you make whatever you want for breakfast."

"It's not a bother," said Lily as she gathered more ingredients. "I love cooking and I almost never get a chance to."

"Do you want some help Lily?" James asked with a look on his face that told her to say no.

"All set," she said with a smirk.

"So Lily, James has told us so much about you since he met you in first year, but I'm sure there's more to learn," said Harry with a gleam in his eye. "Tell us something about you."

James was watching Lily closely to see her reaction. He was the only one who saw the slight reluctance in the way she squared her shoulders because he knew what to look for. He also heard the uneasiness in her voice but a quick glance at his aunt and uncle told him that they hadn't noticed.

"What do you want to know?"

"Anything," said Harry grandly.

"That's not a broad topic or anything," said Eileen sarcastically. "How about you tell us about your plans after graduation?"

"Ummm…" said Lily as she nearly dropped one of the eggs she was holding. "Nothing is definite yet."

"I didn't know what I wanted to do either," said Harry. "Much to my parents' chagrin I graduated and went off to explore the world. I traveled for nearly fifteen years trying to figure out what I wanted to do with my life."

"Tell Lily about all the dangerous stuff you did," James encouraged Harry in a subtle effort to keep the conversation away from Lily.

"Swimming with sharks, sky diving, bungee jumping, waterfall diving- I invented that one myself almost by accident really…" said Harry as he got a laugh from his audience.

"If you call slipping off of a rock at the top of a waterfall an accident," said Eileen with a laugh.

"I did not slip; I jumped!" said Harry defensively.

"Whatever you say dear," said Eileen fondly.

"My favorite activity was mountain climbing," continued Harry passionately. "I was climbing in the Alps when I met Eileen."

"I was a mountain climbing guide at the time," Eileen elaborated.

"Not a very good one," muttered Harry just loud enough for everyone to hear.

"I was a fantastic guide!" said Eileen huffily. "Still am."

"You let me fall!" cried Harry. "Off of a mountain!"

"I was distracted," said Eileen haughtily.

"By my dashing good looks," Harry stage whispered to Lily.

"By his cocky smile," said Eileen as she reminisced. "Being the idiot he was he was falling before we were even that high up and I reached down to help him, but as I said I was distracted and his hand slipped."

"And then we both went tumbling down the sheer face of the mountain and nearly died," concluded Harry dramatically as he pantomimed falling down a mountain. "But we got to spend two months in the hospital together!"

"Somehow he convinced me to fall in love with him and once we were better I left everything behind and followed him on his crazy trip throughout the world. I think we went dragon racing in Romania first."

"Very illegal," said Harry trying to act responsible, but failing because his grin and eyes gave him away. "Don't do it."

"I think my dad would kill me," said James.

"Not to mention Lily's dad," said Harry. "Luckily Eileen's father was just as much a daredevil as the two of us so he wholeheartedly approved and lived vicariously through our stories."

"Dragon riding hmm?" mused Lily. "I doubt my dad would mind."

"Is he the daredevil type too?" asked Harry who totally missed the glare his nephew was sending his way.

Lily laughed. "The total opposite! He's so afraid of heights he wouldn't even climb the Eiffel Tower! He is the exact opposite of daring. The only reason he wouldn't mind me doing dangerous things is because he doesn't really care what I do."

"You should consider yourself lucky," said Harry, for the first time seriously. "My dad couldn't stand my lifestyle. It was lucky my mom loved me or I wouldn't have had any money to live off of."

"Because Merlin forbid you actually got a job," said Eileen lightly.

"I got one eventually! That was one of my mom's conditions. When I told her I wanted to marry Eileen and was going to ask her, my mom said I could only if I had a house and a job."

"It nearly killed him but he did both," said Eileen fondly.

"I didn't really buy a house though," Harry said rebelliously. "You see Lily in the Potter family the first son, my dear brother, gets just about everything and second sons like me are just in case something happens to the first one. Well a couple of generations ago one second son, my personal hero, demanded some inheritance. His older brother agreed and gave him money to build a house in Godric's Hollow. Now of course, being the pompous first born he was, he didn't give the younger brother enough to build a mansion, but it is a decent house. Anyways, I just claimed my inheritance and that was one check off of my list."

"The job one was harder; he actually had to work for that one."

Harry sighed histrionically. "It pained me, but I entered the auror training program and became an auror. Once I made it through that hell, my parents gave me their blessing and two months later Eileen and I eloped!"

"You eloped?" asked Lily curiously.

"Yup! I had to get back at my parents for those stupid stipulations somehow," answered Harry. "They made me wait long enough, I was not about to wait another year while my mother planned an elaborate wedding."

"I still shudder thinking about all those frills she was planning," said Eileen in disgust.

"Hey James can you flip these pancakes while I take care of the eggs?" Lily asked.

"Sure," said James feigning confidence as his aunt and uncle cackled.

"Lily, James burns water," Eileen informed Lily.

"I do not," said James defiantly.

"You do too, I'm not even that bad!" retorted Harry. "When James was little Eileen and I used to babysit him while his parents went to all of their various functions. As the little brother I'm not really required to do all of that boring stuff either thank Merlin! Anyways, there was one night I came home from _work_ and Eileen was at her wits' end. She finally realized why James' parents couldn't take him anywhere."

James blushed, embarrassed as his aunt said, "He was quite the handful! I think he was four at the time and I was trying to be nice by baking cookies with him. For some reason he thought that it would be fun to overturn the bowl on his head and then run around the house touching everything he could!"

Lily was nearly crying with laughter as she looked at her boyfriend who was trying very hard to flip the pancakes on the griddle.

"Here," she said gently as she stepped behind him. She took his hand in hers and helped him flip the pancake. Lily released him and he tried to do the next one by himself, but it landed halfway across the kitchen on the window.

"You're hopeless," said Lily smiling. She stepped in front of James and flipped all of the pancakes expertly and then returned to the eggs.

"Am not," he said defensively.

"Then try to flip the bacon," Lily challenged him.

"No problem," said James confidently. "Ouch!"

Harry and Eileen laughed as James jumped when the hot grease spluttered and a few drops landed on James' hand.

Lily laughed softly as she left the eggs again to check James' hand. "Let me see," she said.

He put his hand on top of her palm with a pout and she kissed the spot that was a faint pink.

"Does it hurt anywhere else?" she asked teasingly.

"Yeah," said James as his pouted deepened and his eyes got that pranking glint in them. "Right here," he said pointing to his lips.

"Is that so?" asked Lily coyly. "We can't have that."

As James deepened the kiss that Lily had begun chastely, Harry called, "I'd like my breakfast without hormones on the side please!"

"Ignore him," James muttered against Lily's lips.

"The eggs will burn," said Lily as she ended the kiss and returned to cooking.

"Damn breakfast," said James. Then he got an idea. He wasn't Hogwarts' best pranker since his uncle for nothing. He walked up behind Lily and wrapped his arms around her waist. She jumped at first but quickly settled into the embrace. Then James began to lightly kiss her neck.

"You're distracting me," she said breathily.

"That was the idea," he said between kisses as he moved to her jaw.

"Your aunt and uncle are right behind us," protested Lily weakly.

"They don't mind," he said, his voice low and sexy.

"Oh yes we do!" announced Harry as Eileen swatted him playfully. He was grinning from ear to ear.

"No we don't! Be nice Harry; they're cooking you breakfast."

"They'll be **burning** breakfast in a minute," said Harry joyfully.

"He's right you know," said Lily as she struggled to get her brain to function properly.

"Let it burn," said James as he worked his way back down Lily's neck and to her shoulder.

"Not likely," said Lily as she plated the eggs. She then plated the bacon and when she moved over to the griddle next to the stove James moved with her. "James Potter, I swear if you give me a hickey…"

"You'll do what?" James murmured against her skin.

"Give you one back and then you'll have to explain **that** to your mother. Now help me brings these plates over to the table."

James sighed but released his girlfriend and helped her grab all of the breakfast items. He then sat down as she grabbed the syrup from the refrigerator. Then before she could sit down in the empty chair at the table, James pulled her into his lap instead.

Lily made a noise of surprise and then turned her head to look at her grinning boyfriend. She was shaking her head slowly and said, "What **are** you doing?"

"Nothing," he replied innocently.

Harry and Eileen just grinned, exchanging amused looks at they observed James and Lily.

Lily spooned some of the breakfast items onto her plate and began eating. James cleared his throat. She looked at him questioningly. She swallowed and asked, "Something I can help you with?"

"Well, since my hands are otherwise occupied it seems like I'll need your help eating breakfast," said James cheekily.

"Why don't you just remove your hands from my waist and then you can feed yourself?" questioned Lily.

"Because then you would escape and I can't have that," explained James.

Lily beamed and relented. She skewered a piece of pancake drenched in syrup onto her fork and was lifting it to his mouth when she missed leaving a streak of stick syrup all along his cheek.

"You did that on purpose," he accused her playfully.

"Maybe," she teased him as she lifted a different piece of pancake to her mouth and ate it successfully.

In retaliation James rubbed his sticky cheek against hers, spreading the sticky wealth.

"James!" she shrieked as she lifted her hand to the sticky spot on her face.

"Serves you right," he said.

"Please Eileen please can I call my brother," Harry begged her as he watched James and Lily, who were oblivious to their audience, playfully banter.

"No Harry," said Eileen trying to appear stern. "You know how Christopher feels about his only son and the opposite sex."

"And that exact knowledge is what is prompting my desire to call him. Did you see how red he got when he told us the story of Christmas morning? I think this would make him turn purple! I've never actually gotten him to be purple with rage before; some of the stuff I've done has gotten me close but I could never quite get him to make that transition between brick red and plum," said Harry as he reflected upon all of his deeds that his responsible and serious older brother had disapproved of.

"Just eat your breakfast," said Eileen.

"How come James gets his breakfast fed to him and I don't?" Harry asked his wife with a pout.

"Because James is more attractive than you are," replied Eileen flippantly.

"How can you say that?" whined Harry. "After all I've done for you, and to you…"

Eileen blushed at the insinuation and reached over the table to kiss her husband.

"Now eat your breakfast," she told him.

Meanwhile James and Lily had finally worked out their differences and now the fork was reaching James' mouth more often then not, though Lily still let her hand falter every once in a while.

Eventually Lily tried to bring some semblance of normalcy back to the breakfast table by introducing a new conversation topic. "So why is there a fully equipped muggle kitchen in a wizarding house?"

"It's actually a newer addition to the house," said Harry.

"My first anniversary present," added Eileen. "I'm a half blood, my father was a wizard and my mother was a muggleborn who didn't give up her muggle background when she married my father. She taught me how to cook the muggle way when I was little and I've loved it ever since. We put a muggle kitchen in our house in Godric's Hollow and we come here so often that Harry built one for me here too."

"The house elves cook well, but they can't compare with muggle food," said Harry as he finished his fourth pancake.

"That was delicious," said Eileen as she finished her last bite as well. "Where did you learn to cook?"

"My mother taught me some when I was little, but mostly I learned from cookbooks. After she died I did all of the cooking," said Lily.

"I'm so sorry to hear that," said Eileen sadly.

"It's okay," said Lily hurriedly. "She died years ago; I'm fine now."

James knew that wasn't true, but he didn't comment.

"That must have been horrible for you," said Eileen.

"I had to grow up pretty fast," said Lily with a wan smile. "But that which doesn't kill you only makes you stronger."

"It's getting late Lily," said James sadly. "You should probably go home before your family starts to worry about you."

"**Daisy** will be worried," clarified Lily. "But you're right I should go."

"Don't worry about the clean-up," said Eileen graciously. "The house elves will get it."

"Where are the house elves?" asked James as he let Lily get up.

"Probably still cleaning," said Harry as he looked at the clock. "It's just past seven; they don't usually make breakfast until nine."

"I never knew that," said James in surprise.

"That's because you don't usually wake up until noon," joked Eileen. "We, on the other hand, like to see the sun rise."

"Well, Lily it was a pleasure meeting you," said Harry as he surprised Lily by pulling her into a tight hug.

"And thank you for breakfast," added Eileen as she hugged Lily after her husband. "And you can keep the clothes, they are from my much younger days and I never wear them anymore anyways."

"Thank you, it was great meeting both of you," said Lily as she smiled and walked towards the back door.

"I'll walk you out," said James as he followed Lily outside.

"Also known as 'I'll follow you and snog you senseless as soon as my uncle can't see us and make fun of us anymore,'" Harry joked to his wife.

James just laughed as he closed the door behind him. Eileen waved her wand and the curtains moved so that Harry couldn't spy on the teens from the huge picture window that faced the beach.

"You never let me have any fun," said Harry sulking.

"Let them have their privacy," Eileen chided him.

"I like that girl!" proclaimed Harry as he stopped sulking.

Eileen just smiled; she was very accustomed to Harry's inability to stay angry or sad for any length of time. "I do too. I think she's perfect for James."

"Our little nephew all grown up!" said Harry sniffling theatrically. "Too bad I wasn't warned that Lily was coming; I could have dug up those embarrassing photos of James that I took expressly for this purpose!"

"Maybe next time dear," said Eileen indulgently.

"Now how about an early morning swim?" Harry asked.

"So you can spy on James?" asked Eileen.

"Of course not!" said Harry pretending to be scandalized. "I'm sure Lily will be long gone by the time I get my bathing suit on and get back outside!"

"Do you remember how long our good-byes were when we first started dating?"

"I don't remember saying good-bye very often," said Harry. "But I think it went something like this."

The passionate kiss of Harry and Eileen was interrupted when James barged in to tell them something.

"I'm going… eww!" shouted James who was scandalized.

"What?" asked Harry as he paused in his activities. "We had to watch you slobber over your girlfriend all throughout breakfast."

"I'm going to go get changed and then I'm going home with Lily to meet her dad; can you tell everyone when they get up?" asked James as he quickly ran through the kitchen.

"Will do!" Harry called after his nephew and then resumed kissing his wife.

James hurried to get changed and then left the house by another door, not wanting to walk in on his aunt and uncle again. Soon he was by Lily's side and ready to go.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" she asked him looking deeply into his eyes.

"Positive," James replied firmly.

"Okay hold onto my hand."

"Why?"

"Because I'm going to apparate us both back to England."

"You can't apparate internationally," said James in confusion.

"**Most** wizards can't," Lily corrected him. "**Some** of us can."

"Wow, okay," said James in awe.

"Hold on tightly," said Lily as she held her hand out to James.

James ignored her hand and pulled Lily into a hug instead.

"Here we go," said Lily nervously. She wasn't afraid of apparating; she knew she was able to do that, but she was scared of James meeting her dad. She had a feeling it wasn't going to end well.

**A/N. So what did you all think? **

**Did you like the make up?**

**How did you feel about all the fluff in the kitchen?**

**Who do you like more, Harry or Eileen?**

**Any thoughts on James meeting Mr. Evans?**

**Favorite part of the chapter?**

**I know there are a lot of questions, but just answer whatever ones you want! I'm very curious to know your thoughts! And here is your review quota for the next chapter (as I said I really should write my paper, but if there is an overwhelming response I might just take a break ; ) ); I need 50 reviews! It seems like a lot but you guys got pretty close with this chapter (34!), so I just need 16 more people to take a minute out of their day by reviewing. I have faith in you all!**


	38. Paternal Problems

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Harry Potter or Harry Potter related copyrights.**

**Hey everybody! It's been a rough couple of weeks for me; that is why I haven't updated, not because I didn't get as many reviews as I asked for. In case anyone was wondering I only got 38 reviews for last chapter- 12 short of the 50 I had proposed. I just want to make it clear one last time that the quotas I set are merely challenges for you readers and when you meet them I reward you with a chapter. My updating is not solely dependent upon your reviewing. **

**On a lighter note: thank you all very much for reviewing! I really appreciate your feedback and it made my dreary days much better. It also inspired me to continue writing even though the hard drive of my computer crashed and I lost much of my motivation. **

**I would also like to respond to one reviewer: Severus did not die by the killing curse; Nagini killed him. **

**Also you all seem to be under the delusion that Lily and James must be killed off in this story; all I'm saying is that it is a semi-AU story and thus I can do whatever I want.**

**Enjoy!**

"Where are we?" asked James as he gazed around in awe. Lily had apparated the two of them into a small patch of woods and once they emerged it was clear that they were not at Lily's house.

"Buckingham Palace," answered Lily as she led James through the royal gardens toward the palace. "My family is staying here while my dad does some legal stuff for the Queen."

"Oh," replied James in shock.

The rest of the short walk went by in silence. Lily was deep in thought as she navigated the many corridors of the palace, and James was unsure what to say so he refrained from speaking.

Lily stopped at a door and led James inside. "I'm just going to change my clothes and take a quick shower before we go to see my dad. If you want you can shower too. **After** me," Lily added when James' eyebrows shot up in surprise.

James grinned and chuckled at Lily's minor slip-up.

"I'll be out shortly; make yourself comfortable," she said as she finished gathering her clothing.

James nodded and proceeded to look around after Lily closed the door to her bathroom.

A half hour later Lily emerged from the loo to find James immersed in the book that had been on her nightstand.

"What do you think?" she asked as she crept up behind him.

James started but then replied, "Very interesting and kind of scary."

"It's a masterpiece," said Lily in awe. "It says a lot about muggle culture, and even more about wizarding society."

"How do you figure?"

"Do you want to get into a lengthy discussion about 1984 or do you want to meet my dad?" questioned Lily hoping James would opt for the first suggestion.

"I'm not letting you off the hook that easily; let's go meet your dad."

"Why don't you shower first; there's sand in your hair."

"I'll go shower but you're still not getting off the hook."

Twenty minutes later Lily and James were strolling down the passages of Buckingham Palace in complete silence. Both teenagers were incredibly anxious about the coming meeting.

"My dad is probably in the office he uses when he's here," said Lily quietly as she knocked on the large wooden doors.

"Come in!" someone called jovially from within.

"Are you ready for this?" Lily asked James, her eyes roving over his face looking for any sign of indecision. She found none.

"Are you?" James fired back.

Lily didn't answer but opened the door.

"Maggie!" called Albert Evans from behind his enormous cluttered desk. "What kept you?"

James looked over at Lily very confused.

Lily strode farther into the room leaving James behind.

"Why do you look so cross mo cuishle?" asked Albert as he saw the frown on the face of the approaching woman. "I know I haven't spent much time with you or the girls lately, but this case is the big one. It could pay for Daisy's medical bills, and Hogwarts for Lily, and Petunia could take dance lessons again, and we could help Violet and Benjy with their mortgage! Can you just be a little more patient?!"

"Dad," said Lily slowly as she walked toward her father. "It's me, Lily. Momma, Maggie, isn't here. She died years ago."

James wanted to reach out to his girlfriend as her voice cracked, but his feet remained rooted to the floor.

"Maggie?!" cried Albert as he cast his eyes wildly around the room. "Where are you?"

"She's not here!" yelled Lily as she tried to calm her hysterical father by grabbing his shoulders. "She's dead!"

"No! No! She can't be dead! She was right here! I saw her!"

"No you didn't," Lily told him sternly. "It's me Lily. You've been drinking and you thought you saw her, but you didn't. It's just me."

"I don't believe you!" cried Albert brokenly. "She's here; I know she is." Then he crumpled and slumped out of his chair and into his daughter's arms. "I saw her; I did. She was here. I saw her," he repeated incessantly as he sobbed.

Lily rocked him back and forth and muttered, "You only thought you did. She's not here, and she's not coming. She died a long time ago."

As his sobs subsided Lily helped her father up and led him to a nearby couch. She pried his glass out of his hands and had him lie down. Almost instantly he fell into a drunken slumber. James then watched Lily bustle around the room with an air of practiced efficiency. She gathered up all of the alcohol and locked it back up in the cabinet and pocketed the key. Then she tidied the things that had fallen off the desk or had been knocked over by Mr. Evans while he was drinking. Next she drew all of the drapes and took the telephone off of the hook. Finally Lily motioned for James to follow her out of the room.

"Do you want to talk?" James asked as he tried to catch Lily's eye.

"Now do you see why I didn't want you to meet my family?" Lily asked, her voice terrifyingly calm.

"Lily," said James pleadingly.

"Not here," she mumbled. "Not here."

James waited as Lily dragged him through many corridors so fast he was totally disoriented and couldn't remember how they made it outside. Once they were outside Lily slipped out of her shoes and broke out into a full run her hand still attached to James'.

Many minutes later Lily stumbled and fell to the ground dragging James down with her.

"Ouch," she muttered. Then she began weeping shamelessly as she curled up into the fetal position.

Silently James picked her up off of the grass still wet with the morning dew and carried her to a secluded weeping willow tree hoping that the long branches would give them some privacy. He sat down with his back against the rough bark and held Lily in his strong arms letting her cry.

She cried for a long time. After awhile she stopped, but she didn't say anything. James didn't say anything either. For nearly an hour they stayed like that, not moving, not speaking, just being.

"My dad is an alcoholic. He has been since my mother and sister died. It's not so bad anymore; Clarice keeps him in line most of the time. But on certain days he can't help it. Today was my mom's birthday. Unlike most men my dad has an uncanny ability to remember important dates; he has never once forgotten a birthday, anniversary, or holiday. He has always had a great memory for dates and events; he was a history major at the university before he went to law school. Anyways, he has probably been drinking since the early hours this morning because he is also a workaholic. He can't help that either.

"His two addictions insured that he only had to spend minimal time at home, and the time that he was home he spent drunk or hungover. I can't tell you how many times I have had to clean up after him; wipe up vomit, hide his booze, help him into bed, repair whatever he knocks over, apologize to the people he offends when he is drunk out of his mind… Within a couple of weeks after my mother's death Petunia started drinking too. I was twelve frickin years old and I was the adult of the house!

"I was the one who made sure that Daisy ate her vegetables, took her medicine, and was in bed on time every night. I shopped, cooked, cleaned, and did the budget. During the school year I sent constant letters back home to Tony and my other friends making sure that everything was running smoothly. I worried all the time! No twelve year old should have to handle that; I'm seventeen and I still can't handle it!"

"It's okay… what am I saying? It's not okay and it never will be. But someday your life will be okay Lily; I promise," James whispered to the vulnerable redhead.

-----

"Good morning Chris," Harry greeted his older brother with an enormous grin.

"Morning," Christopher replied. He was in such a good mood that it didn't even bother him that his brother called him by his hated childhood nickname.

"So I met Lily this morning," said Harry conversationally as he handed his brother a cup of coffee.

Christopher choked on the hot liquid and spluttered, "Lily Evans?! Why was she here? How did she even know we were here? What did she want? Did she see James? What did James say? Does he even know?"

"Slow down Chris," said Harry chuckling. "What's with the third degree?"

"They broke up!"

"And now they're back together," said Harry as if he was talking to a four year old.

"No!" shouted Christopher angrily as he banged his fist on the dining room table.

"What is wrong with you? She seemed like a wonderful girl to me and James really likes her."

"He's in love with her," Christopher spat.

"I am failing to see the problem."

"She's a muggleborn."

"And?"

"Do you believe that history repeats itself because it certainly appears that way right now. Do you remember Eleanor?"

Harry's eyes widened in recognition and his face became serious. "He's not you Chris; he won't make the same mistakes."

"Damn right he won't; I won't let him," stated Christopher firmly.

"That's what Father said about you," Harry pointed out. "As much as he isn't you, James is still stubborn and pigheaded like you."

"I will succeed where Father failed."

"This is the last thing I'm going to say on the subject; don't try to control James's life or he'll resent you just like you resented our parents."

"He'll thank me in the end," Christopher told himself.

-----

"James, can I have a word with you?" Christopher inquired after dinner that night.

"Sure dad, what's up?" asked James.

"Let's go sit in the study." At this Marilyn looked at her husband suspiciously and James's friends gave their best mate sympathetic glances.

James silently followed his father to his study, but his thoughts were anything but silent. His imagination ran wild as he thought up all of the possible reasons his father could have for wanting to talk to him alone.

"James, I have to have a serious talk with you," announced Christopher once and James were settled in armchairs in the study.

"I really don't need another sex talk dad," said James uncomfortably. "I think the first four drove the message home."

Ignoring his son's outburst Christopher continued, "It's about Lily."

"What about Lily?" asked James defensively.

"I know this is hard to hear James, but after Hogwarts you can't see her anymore," said Christopher as he leaned forward in his chair, bracing himself for the ranting and raging that was sure to follow.

"This is because she's a muggleborn isn't it?!" shouted James as he jumped out of his seat and began pacing.

Christopher sat back in his chair and simply said, "Yes."

"But you and mom always taught me not to discriminate against people for any reason!"

"Yes we did, but that doesn't apply to this situation. You're a Potter and you have certain responsibilities. Marrying a nice pureblood girl is one of those responsibilities."

James was outraged. "You don't know me! You have never known me! Because if you did then you wouldn't say stuff like this! I love Lily! I'm not going to break up with her because of your stupid and old-fashioned pureblood nonsense!"

Christopher laughed mirthlessly. "You think I don't know you?! You are dead wrong. I know you because I was in this same situation when I was a little older than you. The only difference was that my father didn't stop me when he should have. He underestimated me; I will not underestimate you."

James paused in his pacing and asked, "What in Merlin's name are you talking about?"

Christopher sighed and then began his long tale. "For most of seventh year I dated a muggleborn girl named Eleanor Grierson. I brought her to the annual Christmas Eve party and she met my parents. Trying to show that they weren't as prejudiced as other pureblood families they didn't make a big scene because they didn't really think that we would last. Even though they didn't say it, my parents thought we wouldn't last because she wasn't as good as me and I would soon get bored.

"Unfortunately for them I never broke up with her. By the time N.E.W.T.s rolled around I was convinced I was in love with Eleanor. I was dreaming of settling down with her and starting a family in a cottage in Hogsmeade. I knew I would have to bequeath the mansion and everything that went with it to my brother, but I didn't care because I thought I was in love."

"I **am** in love!" yelled James defiantly.

"Let me finish," said Christopher calmly. "After graduation my parents forbid me to see Eleanor anymore because it was obvious that our relationship was going too far. But they were too late to stop me. I started sneaking out to see her. I think I sneaked out just about every night that summer, and once I decided to ignore that rule I threw the rest of my parents' rules out the window. The week before I started Auror training Eleanor told me that she was pregnant."

"What?!" James was shocked. He couldn't even imagine his rule-abiding, straight-laced father purposefully eating with the wrong fork never mind fathering a child out of wedlock.

Christopher plowed on. "Of course I then planned on marrying her. But first we decided to tell our parents about our mistake. We went to see your grandparents first. They were absolutely furious, yet they didn't yell as much as I had thought they would. I didn't find out how truly angry they were until later. The day before we were going to elope Eleanor went missing. After I spent the whole day looking for her my mother told me that she and my father had hidden her away. She ensured me that Eleanor and the baby would be well taken care of but I could never see either of them and no one was ever going to know that they existed.

"I searched for her every chance I got, but I was starting auror training at the time so I didn't have many opportunities. My parents tried to make me forget Eleanor and marry a nice pureblood girl, but I pined after her for years. Finally I met your mother. She wasn't like the other pureblood girls; she wasn't from one of the old money families so she wasn't as snobby and prissy. She reminded me a lot of Eleanor, so I married her even though I wasn't in love with her.

"About two years after we were married I told your mother about Eleanor. She didn't speak to me for a month and then she went on a trip. I was afraid she wasn't going to come back. But she did, and she brought Eleanor and my daughter. Marilyn had looked through all of my mother's old records and finally tracked down Eleanor. She decided that she couldn't bear to be second in my heart so she gave me an ultimatum; I could pick Eleanor and leave her, or I could find closure with Eleanor and finally truly commit myself to her.

"I talked with Eleanor for a long time. She had accepted what had happened to her and she was happy. I realized that I was pining after the memory of Eleanor and nothing more. So we parted and I fell in love with your mother."

"But what happened to your daughter? My half-sister?"

"She's about fifteen years older than you are. Since I met her I have kept in contact with her through letters and I visit her once a year on her birthday. She has a family of her own in France now."

"What's her name?" asked James.

"Elizabeth Samantha Grierson Bienvenue. You can't tell anyone she exists; our family has kept her a secret since we knew about her and it's best for everyone if it remains that way. She is the reason I have given you four sex lectures; I know the consequences I lectured you about first hand.

"I'm not trying to ruin your life James," said Christopher tiredly. "I'm trying to protect you from the years of heartbreak I suffered because you and I both know that you have to end your relationship with Lily at some point. It might as well be when you leave school; you'll be parting ways anyway so it will be a nice clean break."

"And if I refuse?" asked James rebelliously.

"You don't have that option James; you are the only heir. It's up to you to carry on the family name and bloodline."

"I didn't ask to be the heir! I don't want it, any of it! I'd rather live in a cottage in Hogsmeade with Lily than Potter Mansion with some pureblood girl I have to learn to love."

"You say that now James, but when you're older you'll realize that I was right and you'll be glad I did this to you."

"Glad?" scoffed James. "Not bloody likely."

Christopher watched as his son stomped out of the room and slammed the door behind him. He wasn't surprised; he distinctly remembered doing the same thing many years previous.

-----

James spent the rest of the night fuming. Flying, swimming, and joking around with his mates all failed to calm him down. That night he had nightmares of being an auror and arriving on the scene of an attack to find Lily's tortured corpse because he wasn't there to protect her.

Around noon the following day Lily arrived as she had promised so that James could really meet her father.

James made a big show of kissing her very passionately when he greeted her on the beach because he knew his father would be watching.

"Are you okay?" Lily asked him.

James genuinely smiled and replied, "Now I am." Then he kissed the side of her head and finally felt his anger begin to ebb. "Let's go."

A few minutes later James was being introduced to Mr. Evans.

"Dad, this is my boyfriend James Potter; James, this is my dad Albert Evans," said Lily.

"Nice to meet you sir," said James warmly as he shook Albert's hand.

"You have a nice firm handshake," commented Albert. "I admire that."

"Thank you sir," replied James.

"Now James, Lily tells me that the two of you have been dating behind my back since November," began Albert as he stirred his tea.

"I guess we have."

"I see. This morning Lily also confessed that your parents have known about the two of you from the beginning."

"Yes sir."

"Yet you didn't think to ask me for **my** permission to date **my** daughter," said Mr. Evans as he eyed James suspiciously.

James was now wishing he hadn't been so adamant about meeting Mr. Evans. "Umm… no."

"I see. How are your grades?"

"They're pretty good, not as high as Lily's of course, but really good," said James nervously.

"I see," commented Mr. Evans in a bored tone. "Do you play any sports?"

"I'm the captain of my house's Quidditch team," said James proudly.

"How… wonderful." Mr. Evans was still unimpressed. "What do your parents do?"

"My dad is sort of like a police officer and my mom doesn't work."

"And what do you plan to do after school?"

"I'm going to go into training to become an auror like my dad."

"I see."

"Dad, this third degree is not necessary," interrupted Lily.

"It most certainly is necessary!" thundered Albert. "You have been dating this boy for six months and you didn't even tell me so there must be something about him you are trying to hide!"

"You are the only one who didn't know! Petunia, Daisy, Jess, and Mary all know! For heaven's sake even Clarice knows! You just don't pay attention! You don't ever listen to me!" yelled Lily.

"I do too!" protested Albert. "We spent hours together driving to London all those times!"

"But did you ever listen to what I was saying?! The answer is no! I know that because if you had been listening you would have remembered me ranting about this boy named James Potter who annoyed the ever-living daylights out of me and you wouldn't have been clueless as to who he is now!" retorted Lily.

"Don't you raise your voice to me young lady! Parents don't have to listen to their children, but children must listen to and obey their parents! It is obvious that you're lacking in this discipline since your mother and I made it clear that we didn't want you dating any wizards!" shouted Albert.

"My mother?" spat Lily in that dangerously low and quiet voice of hers. "That hag is **not** my mother."

"You will show her respect!" roared Albert.

"Mom always taught me that respect is earned and all that cow has earned from me is hatred and bitter resentment," Lily stated violently.

"Lillian Marissa Evans I did not raise you to be so rude and callous!"

"No Dad, you didn't raise me at all! I raised myself after mom died!"

Albert rapidly turned on James. "This is entirely your fault! I knew nothing good would come from her associating with you violent and despicable wizards! You corrupted my sweet little girl!"

James wanted to snort at Albert's description of Lily as "sweet" and "little" but he restrained himself. Lily didn't bother to contain herself.

"Did you even notice I was missing for two weeks last summer? Your sweet little girl spent fourteen days sleeping on park benches and in doorways in the biggest and most dangerous cities in Europe. Did you know your sweet little girl can put a man flat on his back in under a minute or that she likes to drive at 130 kilometers an hour? Did you even know that she learned how to drive?" questioned Lily as she focused her burning gaze on her biological father.

Albert met his defiant daughter's gaze evenly. "You need to leave the room and cool down Lily. I want to talk to James alone."

"But dad…"

"No excuses! Go now Lily!" ordered Albert. "Now!"

Lily gave James a remorseful look but she was already in enough trouble so she didn't protest further.

"She's just like her mother," sighed Albert as he ran a hand through his thinning blond hair. "Temperamental and hotheaded."

"I know," said James simply.

"I'm a straight-shooter James and I'm not going to going to spare your feelings."

"Umm… okay," said James nervously.

"Have you had sex with my daughter?" asked Albert in the lawyer tone that won him hundreds of cases in the past. He wasn't asking his daughter's boyfriend questions, he was interrogating a suspect.

"No!" said James vehemently. He had had enough of being wrongly accused to last for a lifetime.

Albert looked at James intently for a moment and then when he realized James was telling the truth he continued, "Do you and my daughter fight often?"

James reflected for a moment. He wasn't sure what the right answer was so he just gave the truthful one. "Yeah, I'd say so. Mostly about stupid stuff."

"I see. Do you love her?"

James didn't pause for even a millisecond before answering that question. "Yes, very much so."

"I feared as much," said Albert tiredly. He took off his glasses and rubbed his face before continuing. "This relationship has gone too far already. Clarice was right in taking Lily out of school. Ever since she started there she hasn't been her usual self, and as I ponder it, she has been even less her sweet self since she began dating you. I am going to ask you to stop seeing my daughter."

"With all due respect sir, I refuse," said James bluntly.

"I may have _asked_ you to stop seeing Lily but don't delude yourself into thinking that I was giving you a choice in the matter. You **will not** continue to date my daughter," stated Albert firmly.

"If you think you can stop me then you're wrong, and if you think you can stop Lily then you know ever less about her than I thought," commented James civilly as he stood up. "I'm glad I met you Mr. Evans."

Albert shook James' outstretched hand out of courtesy, but his tone revealed his true feelings about the situation. "I wish I could reciprocate the feeling."

"Still glad you met my dad?" asked Lily dryly as James joined her in the hallway. She was leaning up against the wall opposite the office double doors with her arms crossed over her chest and a grimace on her face.

"Not exactly," admitted James.

"Did he tell you that you can't date me any more?"

"Yes."

"Are you going to listen to him?"

"It's more likely that Sirius is gay," joked James.

"Well in that case I feel as if I have nothing to worry about!" laughed Lily. "Come on; let's go do something fun in London."

"Lead the way," said James agreeably.

"James?" asked Lily as she stood up straight and walked over to her waiting boyfriend.

"Yeah?"

"Have I told you lately that I love you?"

"Not recently."

"Well I do," said Lily softly as she gazed deep into his hazel eyes. Then she stood up on her toes and kissed him lightly.

The star crossed lovers smiled serenely and walked off toward London. Little did they know that their fathers were not the only obstacles in the path of their relationship.

**So for this chapter I'm not setting any quota at all. I want to see if people review regardless. Hope you enjoyed the chapter!**


	39. Happy Birthday! Will You Marry Me?

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Harry Potter or Harry Potter related copyrights.**

"Hey James, prefects all in line?" asked Sirius as James entered their compartment on the Hogwarts Express.

"Yup," said James simply as he sat down. He had been answering questions in monosyllables for the past few days.

"Where's Lily?" asked Marlene.

"We thought she was with you," Alice elaborated.

"Dunno," James shrugged, trying to hide his true feelings of inner pain with a casual façade.

Marlene was on a very short fuse. She and Sirius had finished having their relationship conversation only minutes before James returned. She was happy they decided to just be friends… with benefits of course, but that didn't mean she wasn't emotionally volatile at the moment. "What do you mean you don't know where she is?!" she asked sharply.

"I have a general idea of where she is," said James vaguely. "But I don't know exactly where she is right now or what she is doing."

"Don't mess with me right now Potter!" snapped Marlene as she glanced quickly at Sirius hoping he didn't read too much into her emotional state.

"Where is she **exactly** Prongs?" asked Sirius slowly and calmly.

"My guess would be somewhere in Buckingham Palace or if her date went well she's still off somewhere in London," said James bitterly as he stubbornly stared at the floor.

"Want to explain any of that?" asked Remus in confusion.

"No," said James firmly. "She wrote you all a letter so read it."

James took the wrinkled piece of paper out of the pocket of his jeans and threw it in the general direction of his friends. They snatched the precious paper out of the air and huddled around it like vultures around a carcass.

"What do you mean she's not coming back to Hogwarts?!" screeched Marlene.

"Keep reading," instructed James.

"And her mom snapped her wand and killed her owl?" asked Alice in disgust. "How do you even kill an owl?"

"Continue," said James as he waved his hand vaguely.

"And she's dating other people?" asked Sirius suspiciously.

"She and I talked about it. It's fine; keep going," answered James quickly.

"Wow," concluded Remus as he finished. "That sucks."

"You can say that again," moaned James.

"That sucks," said Remus, Peter, and Marlene simultaneously.

Even James laughed at that.

"She doesn't want us to pity her, so let's talk about something happier," said Alice brightly. "How was Italy boys?"

James groaned.

"What?" asked Alice.

"You're doing a pretty poor job of not mentioning Lily," said Sirius with a wide grin and barely suppressed laughter.

"I don't follow," said Alice as she wrinkled her brow in confusion.

"Neither do I," said Marlene as she looked at Sirius suspiciously.

"James and Lily had a very, shall we say, _heated_ night on a private Italian beach," said Sirius airily.

"I knew I shouldn't have told you you great prat," muttered James as he watched Marlene and Alice's jaws drop.

"You didn't need to tell me," said Sirius as he laughed. "Her dress said it all!"

"James Christopher Potter!" gasped Marlene.

"On the beach?" asked Peter in a tone that resembled awe.

"You really are a prat you know that?" James said to his best mate. Then he addressed the rest of his closest friends. "Sirius gave you the wrong idea. Lily and I did not have sex on the beach. We snogged, and went swimming… and yes she took off her dress but she wasn't naked. So get your minds out of the proverbial gutter."

There was a pregnant pause before Remus leaned across the compartment and slapped James on the back in a brotherly congratulatory manner. "You sly dog!"

James laughed and then looked at the two female occupants of the compartment. He didn't know much about girls but he did know that they would not feel the same way about his night's happenings that guys would. Remus and Sirius followed James' gaze and got the message.

Remus coughed obviously and changed the subject. "So… N.E.W.T.s…"

-----

"Welcome home darling!" Clarice greeted Petunia with a fake smile. Albert was still working in Buckingham Palace, but Clarice wanted to be back in her own domain. Clarice took Lily home the same day Lily was supposed to go back to Hogwarts and Daisy returned to her art school. Coincidence? Nothing Clarice does is ever a coincidence.

It was also not a coincidence that Petunia, who had stayed behind at the palace to try to seduce some rich bachelors, had no idea that Lily wasn't returning to Hogwarts. Imagine her surprise when Lily flounced in to dinner that evening.

"What are you doing here?!" screeched Petunia as she dropped the crystal bowl full of rolls.

"I live here," replied Lily glumly as she sat down.

"Weren't you supposed to go back to your freaky school days ago?" hissed Petunia as she narrowed her eyes.

"Yes I was," said Lily evenly as she glared at her step-mother.

Petunia also looked at her step-mother and demanded, "Why is she still here?!"

"Lily isn't going back to her… school. It has been having a negative influence on her. She'll be staying here so we can help her become her normal self again," said Clarice with her plastic smile.

"She'll never be normal!" said Petunia with a pinched look on her face. "Don't you get it? There's freakiness in her blood! You can take away her wand and kill her owl, but you will never, can never make her be normal!"

Petunia was on the verge of tears now. "Get her out of this house! Let her go back!"

"Do you really hate me that much?" asked Lily quietly.

Petunia briefly glanced at Lily. It was a quick look, but long enough for Lily to see the tears and pain shining in her big sister's eyes.

"Get her out of here," cried Petunia as she fled the dining room.

"She'll come around," Clarice promised as she continued eating like nothing had ever happened.

For some reason Lily doubted that. Just when she thought life couldn't get worse Petunia shows up and proves her wrong, as usual.

------

"Let's get something straight," said Petunia in the rough voice she hadn't used since Clarice had trained her to have a soft and sultry voice. "I can't live with Lily indefinitely. I can only tolerate her existence here because I know that it will be over in a few days. I refuse to live under the same roof as that freak!"

"Petunia," said Clarice in her sickly sweet voice. "You must know that your father's position and money are not boundless. You must also know that you are not the beautiful daughter. Lillian is our greatest asset. However, she is proving to be difficult to mold and the longer she spends at that school the worse she gets. You must realize that if Lily marries well then whole new realms will be opened up for you. I'm doing this for you Petunia."

"Don't lie to me!" shrieked Petunia. "It's never about me. It's never been about me and probably never will be! But I'm making it about me right now! I don't want her in this house."

"And how do you propose I groom her as a suitable bride if she is at boarding school?"

"Who the hell cares? If you don't let Lily go back to freak school then I will run away and I **will** make it public and you will look like the terrible manipulative mother you are! No one will ever want to marry your precious Lily then," snarled Petunia.

"If you run away then I will take your _precious_ baby sister out of art school," threatened Clarice.

Petunia laughed coldly. "My sister and I may not get along, but that doesn't mean that we aren't capable of working together for a common purpose. So ponder this, if you don't let Lily go back to freak school I will run away from home, and if you then take Daisy out of art school to punish me nothing will be able to keep Lily here. So then you will be left with no trophy bride, a tarnished reputation, and a moody and rebellious teen artist. What will it be _Clarice_?"

Clarice surveyed her step-daughter in a brand-new light. "I think I taught you too well Petunia Evans. You are just like me."

"I am nothing like you," hissed Petunia furiously. "You ruin lives and I restore them!"

"Whatever helps you sleep at night _sweetheart_," said the manipulative wretch of a stepmother. "I concede; you have out-maneuvered me this time. Both Lillian and Daisy can attend their respective schools, and you can remain here and continue to receive my undivided attention and tutoring."

"I'm not going to thank you if that's what you're waiting for," Petunia told her haughtily.

"Never stoop Petunia; that was your first lesson and I'm glad you truly learned it, even though you are now using the teach_ing_ against the teach_er_," said Clarice as she smiled in her usual predatory manner.

-----

It was lunchtime a week after classes resumed at Hogwarts. As usual James, Alice, Remus, Sirius, Peter and Marlene were sitting and chatting together at the Gryffindor table. Marlene looked over at the girls who were eyeing James and gave them looks of disgust.

"Don't let them get to you," Sirius whispered in her ear as he squeezed her hand.

Marlene was relieved to notice that she didn't feel a single butterfly flutter in her stomach no matter how close Sirius got to her. "She hasn't been missing a week and the hyenas are already licking their chops."

"He hasn't noticed a single one of them," Sirius reassured her. "The only thing that has his attention is the communication mirror in his pocket. He is never more than a meter away from it; he even takes it into the loo with him just in case she has a free moment to contact him."

"You're right; the poor guy is so in love with her he doesn't even see any of them."

"Never has, never will," said Sirius as he looked at his best mate laughing with Remus totally oblivious of everyone else.

Marlene turned to Alice to gossip about the girls who were whispering about James, and Sirius turned back to his lunch.

None of the Gryffindors noticed when the Great Hall suddenly went silent. They did however notice when a familiar voice called, "Guess who?"

James' grin could have lit up the entire room as he gently grabbed the wrists of the person who was covering his eyes with her slender hands. In one fluid motion he jumped off of the bench and had the girl of his dreams in his arms.

"You're back," he breathed as he held her close to him.

"I'm back," confirmed Lily as she loosened James' grip on her enough so that she could kiss him.

Catcalls and disappointed pouts abounded. But five Gryffindors were seeing the world through rosy glasses.

"Hey James, you can't hoard her all to yourself," Sirius informed James.

James held up a finger to signal that Sirius was going to have to wait a minute. Sirius and all of his friends rolled their eyes, but soon James did release his girlfriend from their liplock and she was soon surrounded by the rest of her friends. However, James didn't let go of Lily. No matter who hugged her or chatted with her, he kept a protective and loving arm around her waist.

She savored every shiver the contact sent up her spine; she dated a lot of guys, but none of them had ever made her feel this way, this good. Every so often Lily glanced up at her boyfriend and leaned just a little bit more into his embrace. Interspersed with her feelings of pure bliss and elation, Lily dedicated feelings of gratitude toward her cunning older sister. Life was good, for now.

-----

"I can't do this anymore!" yelled Lily in frustration on day in the middle of May.

James looked over at his stressed girlfriend with a self-satisfied smirk. "You can do this," he assured her for the millionth time.

"I can't, I can't," muttered Lily as she started hyperventilating and put her head in her hands.

James just smiled. Even though Lily was only wearing her school uniform, her hair was a tangled mess, and she wasn't wearing any make-up, James still thought she was the most adorable and attractive woman he had ever met.

He reached over and grabbed her hand in his. After Lily had returned to school the previous month Lily and James loathed being apart, so they had even gone to the extent of moving their desks in their study next to one another.

"Why don't we take a break from studying and go for a walk?" suggested James. When Lily opened her mouth to protest, James swiftly cut her off saying, "You know this stuff, all of it. One hour won't make a difference."

"Just one hour?" asked Lily cautiously.

"I promise," he said as he took her other hand and held them both within his.

"Okay," she said slowly.

James led the way out. They walked slowly through the corridors of Hogwarts hand-in-hand. Eventually James led Lily to a very familiar stone fountain in the courtyard.

"Do you remember the first time we came here?" asked James as he pulled Lily flush against his chest.

"As I recall," said Lily as a smile spread across her face. "I was freaking out about a big transfiguration test and you seduced me with that incredibly sexy pouty look of yours to accompany you for a walk."

"Ummm, then what?" asked James as he began to sway to imaginary music.

"Then you asked me if I wanted to dance. And I asked you if you were crazy. This was back in the beginning of our relationship, so I didn't know that you are in fact insane; I wouldn't ask such a stupid question now. But you persuaded me, again with those frustratingly seductive eyes of yours, and we began dancing to music only you could hear."

"But soon you began to hear it too," James reminded her.

"And before I knew it we were dancing and laughing and I had completely forgotten about that stupid test," reminisced Lily as she leaned her head on James' shoulder as they continued to circle around the fountain slowly.

N.E.W.T.s were looming closer every day, but for that one hour James and Lily forgot.

-----

"I still can't believe we made it through," said Sirius as he shook his head back and forth.

"But it feels so good that it's over," sighed Peter as he fell backwards onto the grass. He puts his hands under his head and contently watched the clouds pass by.

"Let's never do that again," suggested Marlene. She followed Peter's lead and stretched out onto the lush green grass underneath the infamous tree by the lake where Lily had challenged James after their last set of enormous tests.

The once enemies were currently sitting under said tree. James was reclining against the bark and Lily was sitting between his legs and resting on his chest. James was whispering sweet nothings in Lily's ear while she laughed and hit him lightly when appropriate. Sirius was also lying against the tree; he looked over at his best mate and new close mate and smiled. Then, in complete bliss, he closed his eyes and relaxed. Remus was lying between Peter and Marlene on the grass and debating the shape of a particular cloud with his two friends. Alice had volunteered to grab some snacks from the kitchens; she was just now entering this scene of peace and calm.

"I brought snacks," sang Alice as she plopped down in the middle of her friends.

The teenagers quickly woke from their stupor.

"Excellent," said Sirius as he dove into the middle of the pile of snacks.

"Toss me something," said Marlene as she craned her neck to see the selection.

Soon the snacks were distributed and everyone fell back into a complacent lull. Then a shadow descended upon the group.

"Excuse me," snapped Marlene. "But you're blocking the sun."

"And the clouds," added Peter.

"Please move," said Alice firmly but politely.

"What do you want Fini?" asked Sirius rudely.

"Just to talk to Lily," said Sandra with an evilly sweet tone.

"What's up Sandra?" asked Lily cheerfully.

Sandra was off-put by Lily's carefree attitude, but she quickly regrouped and snidely asked, "So how did your N.E.W.T.s go?"

"They were pretty easy I thought," commented Lily.

Sandra spluttered but again regained her composure, "You're not number one in our class you know."

"I know," said Lily shrugging.

"Why don't you care?!" bellowed Sandra angrily. "You're supposed to be devastated that you aren't the valedictorian! You're supposed to be furious that Professor Aligne counted all of your homework as late when you came back from your 'family emergency'! I beat you and you don't care?! And you didn't even come to me begging to be allowed to come back to my study group!"

"You expected me to beg to get back into the group that ousted me?" asked Lily skeptically.

"Well the humiliation would have been better than studying with these losers," said Sandra in her usual condescending manner.

Lily laughed softly. "Good luck Sandra."

"What?!" Sandra shouted. "Where is my worthy opponent?! You have diminished yourself to nothing! Nothing! That's what comes from associating from people like them. I warned you Lily Evans; you ignored my advice, the rules that were for you own good, and now you're just like them, perfectly ordinary."

"You're wrong," spoke Lily calmly and clearly. "I haven't lost anything; I've gained everything. Good luck in life Sandra; I hope that your position as valedictorian keeps you warm at night."

"Because unlike you, Lily will have some**one** to keep her warm at night," Marlene taunted the rude Ravenclaw.

"I bet you failed all of your N.E.W.T.s!" shrieked Sandra in a last ditch attempt to break Lily down to the quivering mess she had hoped to find.

"We'll see when the results come, but even if I did it would be okay because I would still have the love and support of my friends. What do you have Sandra?" asked Lily with her chillingly intuitive gaze.

Sandra yelled unintelligible words in frustration and stomped off angrily.

"Poor girl," murmured Lily.

"Did you really think the N.E.W.T.s were easy?" Remus asked off-handedly.

Lily laughed. "Of course not, but I knew it would bug her if I said so. I just barely finished Transfiguration. 150 multiple choice and four essays are a bit excessive for a written test I think."

Lily's friends looked at her in confusion.

"What?"

"There were only 100 multiple choice questions and two essays," explained James slowly.

Lily sat up straight, and tensely said, "Did any of you have to concoct a Lansely poison and antidote? Repel a dementor? Predict a lunar eclipse during the sign of Venus in the southern hemisphere in the year 3045? Identify 300 different stars and 18 constellations? Grow a Mandrake from seed to adult and make an antidote for people who have been petrified?"

"How do you even grow a plant that takes months to mature in the space of a few hours?" Alice vocalized as they all shook their heads after each question.

"It's not easy," said Lily in a shaking and distracted tone.

"It sounds almost as if you had different exams," said Marlene in a shocked voice as she sat up and looked at Lily.

"I think I did," stated Lily as she stared out into space looking lost.

"Can they even do that?" asked James.

Lily spoke rapidly saying, "Think about it; who probably writes those tests? Ministry officials, probably purebloods, who hate me for being Head Girl. They all said they would make me regret not abdicating…"

"That sounds a bit far-fetched," said Remus reasonably. "If they didn't discriminate against me for being what I am then they probably didn't write you a separate test either."

"But that doesn't change the fact that I had a different test," Lily pointed out.

"Maybe there were two tests and you got the same one as other people and we all just got the same one," suggested Peter.

"Maybe," Lily allowed.

"But then why was Lily's test so much harder?" asked James. "Aren't they supposed to be _standardized_ tests?"

"Maybe you aced them anyways Lily," said Sirius. "Then you would stick it to anyone who was trying to sabotage your scores."

"True," said Lily thoughtfully.

"Don't worry about it right now," advised James. "Let's just enjoy the rest of the day. We only have a couple of weeks before we get our scores and the term is over."

"It's hard to imagine life without Hogwarts," mused Peter.

"We'll stay friends after we graduate, right?" Marlene questioned each of her friends with an inquisitive glance.

"Of course," answered Lily firmly. "No matter where we all go and what we do, we'll keep in touch and be there for each other. We've been through too much this year and the past seven years to drift apart. We'll stay together; we have to."

The others nodded in accord and then drifted back to their relaxing activities assured by Lily's strong words. James was even more confident that they would remain friends forever because the Marauders were brothers, no force could tear them apart for long, and Lily, Marlene, and Alice had a similar special bond that couldn't be shattered. James and Lily had brought these two groups together and James intended to keep them together forever in a similar fashion.

-----

The seventh years spent the following week in restful bliss. One morning at breakfast Lily and James were talking to each other, acting as if no one else existed, when Sirius and Marlene noticed something strange about their conversation.

"Are they even speaking English?" Marlene whispered to Sirius as she eyed the couple strangely.

Sirius listened to the conversation for a moment and then answered Marlene, "Sounds like Italian to me."

"Italian?" asked Alice who was listening. "Since when does Lily know Italian?"

Lily heard her name and instantly tuned into the conversation. "My mother made me learn it before French."

Satisfied the other Gryffindors changed to other topics and Lily and James returned to their conversation. Meanwhile the mail came. Because Lily wasn't paying attention, Marlene, who was sitting on her other side, took the envelopes from the owls and was about to put them on the table for Lily to read later when she noticed the sender.

"Lily," said Marlene quietly.

Lily ignored her.

"Lily," said Marlene with a little more volume.

Still no response.

"Lily! Your exam results came!" hissed Marlene urgently.

"What?" asked James and Lily simultaneously.

"Here," said Marlene her hand shaking out of nerves for her friend. Not only had Lily's test been different, but her results had come before anyone else's.

Lily stared at the official envelope in her hands until James nudged her and urged her to just open it.

"This has to be some sort of joke," cried Lily softly as she scanned her results.

"What does it say?" asked Sirius impatiently.

"There's no way," said Marlene as she read over Lily's shoulder.

"If this is real then you probably made history," whispered James as he gazed at the scores too.

"What did she get?" Alice demanded to know.

"She got- she got-," stuttered Marlene as she looked over at her friend in disbelief.

"A perfect score," whispered Lily as she looked at her friends sitting across with her with wide eyes. "I got all O's."

At this revelation all of Gryffindor table grew silent for a moment. Then whispers sprouted up with wildfire and quickly spread to the other three houses tables.

"This has to be some sort of sick joke," said Lily frantically. "This can't be real."

Lily jumped up from her seat and ran to the faculty table. "Professor Dumbledore, is this real?" she inquired anxiously as she thrust the paper in front of his face.

Dumbledore didn't even have to glance at the paper; he already knew what was written on it because he had opened the same letter only a moment previous. "I am pleased to say that it is. The Ministry sent me a copy of your scores and a letter confirming them this morning as well."

"But why Professor?" asked Lily hollowly.

The Headmaster smiled, "I suggest that you open your other letter for an explanation."

Lily nodded and ran back to her seat without another word.

"What is going on Albus?" asked Filius.

"You shall see very shortly I believe," answered Dumbledore as he watched Lily pick up the forgotten envelope underneath the discarded N.E.W.T.s one.

"Oh my Merlin," was Lily's mantra as she began to hyperventilate as she scanned the parchment.

"What?!" asked her friends in unison.

"I was accepted to the International Institute of Incredibly Talented Wizards," gasped Lily.

Now there really was silence in the Great Hall. Those who didn't know about the IIITW were quickly informed by the purebloods and older students. The International Institute of Incredibly Talented Wizards was the foremost school of higher magical education in the world; only one hundred seventh year students throughout the world were accepted a year. Those who managed to graduate usually emerged with multiple degrees and were given their choice of jobs anywhere. No one from Hogwarts had been accepted in over thirty years.

"They arranged it so I had different testers, even different administrators. They graded them and that's why I had them back so fast. They weren't just my N..s, they were my entrance exams too," said Lily her words tumbling out over one another in a big rush. "I can't believe this!"

Alice and Marlene couldn't believe it either. They had always known Lily was brilliant, but this? Marlene quickly swept Lily, letter and all, into a crushing hug. Alice ran around the Gryffindor table and joined in as fast as her legs could carry her. All three girls were crying and jumping up and down in joy.

Alice and Marlene weren't the only ones who were excited for Lily. Sirius, Remus, and Peter started furious applause that soon echoed throughout the Great Hall. Dumbledore started a standing ovation that spread in ripples to the students and other faculty members.

James smiled because Lily was shining with excitement and unadulterated bliss, but really it felt like someone had poured cement down his throat and it had hardened in his stomach. All of his plans had been shifted within seconds. He was happy for her and glad that she had such a fabulous opportunity in front of her, but he didn't want her to be thousands of kilometers away for the next three years. This changed things, but not all that much.

-----

"Happy Birthday Lily!" sang her roommates the following morning.

Lily laughed as she woke up to see six smiling faces surrounding her bed. "Thanks you guys!"

"Now we know that our present can't possibly compare to your exam results yesterday," said Dorcas.

"Or whatever big surprise James has planned for you," added Mary.

"But you should get it anyway!" exclaimed Marlene as she took Lily's present out from behind her back and plopped it on the bed.

"A new owl!" said Lily in delight.

"She just flew in last night," said Alice. "The boys hid her for us until this morning so that it would be a surprise."

"Thank you guys so much! What should I name her? She looks like a Susanna!" declared Lily.

Her friends laughed.

"Susanna it is!" affirmed Marlene.

"Hurry up and get dressed; the boys want to wish you a happy birthday too," Alice informed her.

"They are absolutely dying that you wouldn't let them throw you a birthday party," stated Marlene.

"It's my birthday and I have had enough of grand parties to last a lifetime," said Lily stubbornly. "I'd rather just hang out with my friends for the day."

"It's _your_ birthday," said Marlene in a tone that suggested she thought Lily was totally bonkers.

"It **is** _my_ birthday," repeated Lily as she gathered her clothes. "I'll be out in a bit."

---

"Good morning Alice, Dorcas, Marlene, Mary, Heather, Genius/ Birthday Girl," Sirius greeted the girls as they traveled down the stairs to the common room.

"You can stop calling me that whenever you like," said Lily as Sirius kissed her cheek in a brotherly way.

"So never?" quipped Remus as he took kissed Lily on the cheek.

"You know Sirius, once he sets his mind to something," remarked Peter as he kissed Lily as well.

"Good morning love," said James as he smiled at his girlfriend. "Happy birthday." Then he kissed Lily, but unlike his friends he didn't settle for her cheek; he kissed her lips long and passionately while their friends catcalled in the background.

"Come on you lovebirds, let's get some breakfast," said Marlene as she dragged the two of them out of the common room.

After N.E.W.T.s the house elves served breakfast until 10 a.m. because they knew that the seventh years didn't wake up with the rest of the school any longer. Unlike the previous day, breakfast was a usual affair. The three Marauders not dating Lily presented her with their gifts, new charms for her bracelet.

The rest of the day the Gryffindors just lounged around outside in the warm May sunshine eating birthday cake and other sweets. Lily couldn't remember a more enjoyable birthday.

---

"Do you want to come flying with me?" James asked that evening after supper.

Lily was reading in front of the fire, even though it was May it was drafty in the tower. She put down her book, surveyed the aura similar to that of a young puppy surrounding her boyfriend and smiled gently.

"I'd love to," agreed Lily.

Almost an hour later James was still flying on his beloved broomstick with his arms around his beloved girlfriend traveling over the beloved grounds of Hogwarts. Soon James was skimming over the lake. Lily leaned over to trail her fingers over the surface and James had to employ some skillful maneuvering to keep Lily from falling into the water. However, no Quidditch expert could ever find a valid reason for going into a barrel roll that resulted in the two lovers crashing gently onto the ground beneath their favorite tree near the lake. There are no Quidditch experts, however, that wouldn't struggle to come up with a valid reason for the move that ended in James passionately kissing his gorgeous girlfriend under the moonlight (not the light of a full moon of course!).

"Lily," he moaned between kisses. "Will you marry me?"

**Yeah cliffhanger! So I forgot to put in questions for you guys last chapter, but I remembered now, so here they are:**

**What do you think Lily will say?**

**What do you think about Lily's special tests and school?**

**Sweetest moment this chapter?**

**How do you feel about Sandra and/or Petunia in this chapter?**

**Their careers are going to be announced next chapter, what do you think each person will choose? And how many N.E.W.T.s do you think they each received?**

**(You can copy and paste this form and just fill it out)**

**James:**

**Sirius:**

**Peter:**

**Remus:**

**Marlene:**

**Alice:**

**So thank you all for reading and please review! I was really impressed with the response from last chapter; try to keep it up and I'll try to keep updating!**


	40. The GreenEyed Monster

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Harry Potter or Harry Potter related copyrights.**

**Hey readers, sorry this took so long; I've been really busy lately. But to make it up to you, this one is really long and extra fluffy! **

**Also, I've decided to add an additional feature to my postings. My writing is often inspired by songs, so now I'm going to tell you which ones coordinate with each chapter. I suggest listening to these songs because I think it will add another dimension to the action. **

**Song Inspiration: "Love Story" by Taylor Swift and "Shadows of the Night" by Pat Benatar **

"Lily," he moaned between kisses. "Will you marry me?"

"What?" asked Lily instantly shocked out of the moment. She pushed James away and sat up.

"Will you marry me?" James repeated, his roguish grin still firmly in place.

"James… James…" she whispered as she reached out and stroked his cheek gently.

As her silence grew his smile faded.

"We can't get married; I only turned eighteen this morning," said Lily softly.

"We don't have to get married now; we could wait a few years," stated James.

"Then why ask me now? Why not leave things as they are and ask me in a few years?"

James looked away from her and said, "Well, you're going away… I don't want you to fall in love with someone else."

Lily would have laughed if James didn't look so sincerely scared and vulnerable. "I'm in love with **you** James, and ring or not I'm not going to forget that no matter how far apart we are."

"I don't want you to go," confessed James. "I want you to just stay here with me in England."

"I know, but this is something I have to do for me, and I really hope you understand that," Lily trailed off.

"But you're going to go no matter what," finished James stonily.

"James I love you dearly, I really do, but I'm not any more ready to settle down than I was at the beginning of this year. I finally figured out a way to get out of being married off by my evil step-mother, so I'm not really interested in committing to getting married right now. Ask me in a couple of years, when I have things figured out," explained Lily as gently as she could.

No matter how gently she let him down, a rejection was a rejection and James was crushed.

"I understand," said James finally in a defeated tone. "Just don't tell anyone okay?"

"Sure," agreed Lily. She would have promised him the moon if it would take the hurt look out of his eyes.

"It's getting late," said James as he picked up his broom and stood up, offering a hand to Lily. "We should go back inside. Oh, I almost forgot, happy birthday," he added as he took a badly wrapped box out of his pocket.

"They're beautiful," gushed Lily as she opened the box that contained a pair of gorgeous emerald earrings. "Thank you. I love them and I love you too."

James smiled, though it wasn't his usual confident grin, and pecked her on the cheek. "You're welcome."

James put his arm around Lily's waist and pulled her close as they walked back to school as usual, but they both knew things were different now. James had crossed a line and no matter how much Lily wished it, they couldn't go back.

-----

Sooner than they wished their N.E.W.T. results arrived and then the rest of the school was gloating over the sad faces and disappointed groans. Another week passed, the rest of the school had their final exams and the seventh years gloated about being finished with tests and school.

As he had expected, due to his "furry little problem" Remus was declined by every program and Ministry job to which he had applied, despite his high grades and excellent test scores.

Marlene was given her pick of a couple of Ministry positions because she also did very well on her exams.

James and Alice both passed with flying colors and were accepted to the Auror Academy, much to their excitement and Lily's worry.

Receiving remarkable N.E.W.T. scores, Sirius was also accepted to the Auror Academy, but as the attached note said, it was only because Mr. Potter, Professor Dumbledore, and all of his teachers had vouched for his character, yet they would still be keeping a cautious eye on him due to his family background and their dark affiliations.

Peter received average scores and was welcomed into the same office at the Ministry that his father had worked in for twenty years.

And Lily, well she had received many offers due to her outstanding scores, but she only had eyes for one university, much to James' anxiety.

Soon it was time for all of the seventh years to part, but they all knew it was only temporary because they would all meet again at the grand graduation ball that the Potters were throwing for their only son and his class. However, a whole week was much too long for James and Lily to be separated, so that is why James could be found on the grounds of Lily's home one evening in mid-June throwing pebbles at her bedroom window.

James's ego was severely crushed by Lily's rejection, but he had rebounded quickly when Gryffindor won the House Cup and he had been accepted to the Auror Academy. Things between the two of them returned to normal and none of their friends had any clue that there had been a brief disturbance in their relationship.

Because it was after nine Lily was in her bedroom. As they had previously arranged, she came to her window seat and flung the window wide open. James' heart skipped a beat as he saw the wide smile that he had put on her face.

"If I jump will you catch me?" called Lily coyly.

"Of course," boasted James.

Lily jumped right out of the window, catching James very much off-guard. He didn't think she was serious! But, as always, Lily had a plan. She transformed into a falcon mid-way through her jump glided to James' spot and then transformed back to herself, landing expertly in his outstretched arms.

James just shook his head in disbelief. "Honestly, I have no idea how I keep up with you."

Lily scrambled out of James' arms and said, "Come on, I want to take you somewhere."

Then she seized his hand and started running toward the woods at the edge of her family's estate.

"Where are we going?" asked James as he finally fell into stride with his athletic girlfriend.

Lily looked over at him and then noticed how their strides were perfectly in sync. She listened to their soft and harmonized footfalls for a moment and smiled. "You'll see."

"Okay," said James as he smiled in return. He was glad to see Lily, but at the back of his mind was his father's threat about breaking up with Lily or else; running felt good.

"Where are we?" asked James breathlessly as he turned around looking at his surroundings.

Lily, who was laying down on the grass, looked up at her astonished boyfriend and said, "This is where I go when I'm upset or I need to think, so pretty much every day that I'm home."

"How far did we run?" wondered James as he settled down on the grass next to Lily.

Lily rested her head on James' chest and told him, "Not too far, we went a direct route so only two or three kilometers."

"So this is where you come," thought James aloud.

Lily hummed in response.

"Why did you bring me here?"

"Because I am making an effort to include you in my life and this place has been a huge part of my life for the past few years. Do you know I have spent a lot of time out here thinking about you?"

"Really?" asked James with a roguish grin.

"It was that bush over there that convinced me that I had been in denial and I really did fancy you."

James laughed. "I told you every day for two years that I fancied you and you secretly fancied me in return, and yet it was a bush that convinced you?"

"It's actually a really embarrassing story," admitted Lily.

"All the more reason you should tell me," reasoned James.

"No way," said Lily firmly.

"Please," said James with his best impersonation of Sirius' puppy-dog eyes.

"No."

Then James proceeded to try to convince her. He tickled her mercilessly as her peals of laughter echoed throughout the small clearing.

"So are you going to tell me now?"

"Never!" gasped Lily between chuckles.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes! No! Fine! I'll tell you!" Lily gasped when she couldn't take it anymore. "But you're going to laugh at me."

"You laugh at me all the time; I never get to laugh at you."

"True," Lily laughed as she and James got settled again. "Well you'll laugh at this one for sure. It was the spring holiday of sixth year, and I was out here late at night after my step-mom 'sent me to bed,' and I was thinking about you."

"Me?"

"Yeah, you had just won the Quidditch cup two weeks before, not your first or last as we found out this spring, and you had looked so incredibly attractive as you were celebrating with your team on the field. I couldn't stop staring at you and your stupid windswept hair. For the next week I stared at you all the time in class, and I watched you all the times in between."

"Finally the tables turned! And I can't believe I didn't even notice!"

"You were busy," said Lily sullenly.

"What was I busy with?" asked James in confusion.

"Better question: who," said Lily snippily.

"I knew it!" shouted James triumphantly.

"Knew what?"

"I knew that me dating Christina made you jealous," he stated smugly.

"Of course it made me jealous," grumbled Lily. "You kissed her right in front of me whenever I came into sight."

"But you never said anything."

"I didn't want you to know," admitted Lily. "But that's not the point of this story. I was here raging around because I was finally admitting that I liked you. And when I say raging, I mean raging. You see that fallen tree over there? I felled it with a spell."

"How?" interrupted James. "You weren't seventeen yet. What about the Trace?"

"I was never on the Trace," said Lily shrugging. "People like me aren't."

"Oh."

"That's not the point of the story either. Once I exhausted all of my anger because I liked you and I had always sworn I wouldn't, I let myself imagine that you were here," she finished in a small and embarrassed voice.

James scoffed and tried not to laugh.

"I told you that you would laugh at me."

"Please keep going; I love this story."

"You would."

"Come on Lily, you and the whole school got to see my feelings for you, but no one, including me, ever knew that you liked me back."

"Fine. I was imagining that I was dancing with you because at the Quidditch party you were dancing with Mary and for the first time I noticed that you were a really good dancer." Despite James' overly satisfied and rather smug look, Lily continued, "And I tripped over a rock or something and fell backwards onto that very dense bush over there. My head knew it was just a bush, but in my dream I imagined that you had caught me because in my heart I knew that you would have caught me.

"Do you remember that time I slipped in the hallway after class and you caught me just before I hit the ground?" finished Lily as she ran her hand lightly over his chest.

James hummed in agreement and then said, "I had Sirius charm the floor right in front of you so that you would fall."

"I knew it!" said Lily exuberantly. "I knew it couldn't be a coincidence."

"You didn't yell at me that day. You just blushed and stormed away. I didn't realize it then because usually I made you blush with anger, but you fancied me then didn't you?"

Lily blushed just like in sixth year and muttered yes. "I'm going to change the subject now. I have a huge favor to ask."

"What is it?" asked James as he glanced down at Lily's serious expression.

"I've finally decided to leave my family and I was wondering if I could stay with you until I leave for school in September."

"Of cour-," began James until he remembered his father's lecture.

"What's wrong?" asked Lily as he hesitated. She sat up with a concerned look on her face.

James chose to remain on the ground and looked up at her as he said, "You know how you sneaked out to be with me tonight? Well I had to sneak out as well because my dad doesn't want us to be together anymore."

Lily looked off into the distance and coolly stated, "It's the muggleborn thing isn't it?"

James ran a hand through his hair and confirmed her fears.

"So when were you going to break up with me?" asked Lily, still refusing to look at him.

"Lily- Lily- Lily look at me," tried James as he became more and more frustrated. Finally he sat up and gently guided her face to his. After ending a very soft and tender kiss James continued, "I didn't come here to end things with you; I faced my father's wrath because I want to be with you."

"Really?" asked Lily softly as she peered through the darkness to try to read his expression.

"Really," repeated James as he sealed his promise with another kiss. "To hell with what my father says; I love you."

"Don't scare me like that again," Lily begged him as her voice quavered. She threw her arms around him, knocking him off balance.

"Now this is what I call a compromising position," said James grinning. "And I intend to take full advantage of it," he added as he pulled the rest of Lily's body to match his.

Soon after he rolled over, making sure that he didn't squish Lily, so that he was hovering over her. Lily only dimly registered this because her entire being was consumed by the feeling of James' lips on hers. And just when things were getting really good there was an interruption that neither of them could ignore; the sounds of a rather large search party stomping through the woods and calling Lily's name reached their ears.

After ending the kiss Lily looked up at James with an expression that was a mixture of fear, excitement, mischief, and annoyance. "I say we escape. Go be Prongs and I'll meet you back here once they go somewhere else."

James wasn't altogether sure that that was the best plan but he wouldn't have refused Lily anything at that moment. They separated and James sprang into the woods as Prongs just as Lily soared into the treetops. Moments later a few men including Lily's father, the butler, and the local police chief, tramped through the open meadow shining their flashlights and calling for the missing teenager.

Shortly afterward Lily glided down from an upper branch. After glancing around and seeing that James had not yet returned she sighed deeply. Then she got a devilish look on her face that would have made Sirius proud. Slowly she crossed her arms over her abdomen and grabbed the hem of her shirt. Her shirt was about halfway off when larger hands enveloped hers and aided in the effort. The second half of the mission was completed in twice the time.

Lily grinned as James, still standing behind her, wound his arms around her waist, and started kissing her bare shoulder and neck. Lily moaned and melted into the warm embrace. But finally she couldn't take it anymore; she turned around and led his lips to hers.

Moments later James's shirt joined Lily's as it was discarded. The couple had never been closer. Lily was having an extremely difficult time breathing as James traced patterns on her back with his skilled and sure fingers. James couldn't string a single coherent thought together; he wouldn't have even been able to state his name because Lily's nimble fingers roaming all over the broad and flat planes of his chest totally distracted him.

Neither had been aware that they had been moving, but suddenly Lily's back brushed up against the rough bark of an old tree. They didn't mind of course, not that they really noticed.

They also didn't notice the jealous and silent being standing on the edge of the glade with mouth agape. She had never seen anyone kiss with such raw emotion; she had never been kissed with such love and passion, and yet her freak of a younger sister was being kissed with awesome intensity. Petunia was seeing green. Then when she acknowledged that the green-eyed monster was welling up within her, she realized that really, the green-eyed monster was in front of her!

For the billionth time Petunia cursed her looks. Just once she wished she could trade in her average beauty for Lily's exotic and entrancing features. She would give anything for red hair to look natural on her and she would kill for green eyes to match. Maybe then she would attract some man whom she would sneak into the woods to see, a man who would kiss her like that, who would love her… a man with rippling muscles, a charming grin, and luscious hair…

It wasn't fair that Lily, the younger sister, got everything she ever wanted and more. Lily was a freak! Freaks don't deserve to be nearly half-naked with an attractive man in the moonlit woods; that was not how the story was supposed to go! And Petunia knew how the story was supposed to go; she had read more fairytales as a child than anyone else, and as an adult she thrived on trashy romance novels. In the end the hot jock was supposed to fall in love with the plain and slightly geeky ballet dancer, not the brilliant, gorgeous, charming, and athletic Head Girl! Petunia refused for the plot to be reversed; Lily didn't deserve a happy ending. Therefore, Petunia set out to right the wrongs of the universe thinking herself to be an incredibly brave and intelligent hero, the defender of the humble and lowly (a.k.a. herself).

James and Lily weren't disturbed by the rustling leaves one iota. It was extremely difficult however to ignore four flashlights being shone right at them and an authoritative voice commanding James to step away from Lily.

James, being the decent individual he was, refused to step away from Lily because he was the only barrier between his bra-clad girlfriend and the male search party. "Turn your lights off first," he replied steadily, still bracing himself with his palms against the tree trunk.

"I don't think so son," returned the police officer. "I'm only going to ask you one more time: step away from the girl."

"No," said James sternly. "Not until you turn the lights off and give her some privacy. I won't run."

"Do what he says Jonathan," requested Mr. Evans quietly. He had picked up on James's protective demand.

The police chief and the others obeyed Mr. Evans' request. Once there was darkness James backed away from Lily and grabbed his shirt while she snatched hers from a bush, that was thankfully far from her father, and donned it.

"If you must you can turn the flashlights back on now," said Lily with a haughty and bored tone that sounded foreign to James's ears.

"Darling! Are you hurt?" asked Albert Evans as he stepped away from the victorious Petunia, once again leaving her in the dark.

"I'm fine," stated Lily as she rolled her eyes. She allowed her father to wrap his arm around her and lead her to the "safety" of the search party.

"Officer, arrest that man!" declared Albert.

"For what?!" asked James.

"For kidnapping and God knows what else if we hadn't arrived in time!"

Lily laughed and questioned her dad, "You're really going to arrest my boyfriend for kissing me? Oh and by the way, he didn't kidnap me, I sneaked out of the house."

"Oh ah well then," said Mr. Evans gruffly. He cleared his throat and continued, "Well thank you gentlemen, I'm sorry for your trouble, but you know how women are. Clarice got a little excited when Lily was missing and then one of the maids said she saw a shadowy figure leading another off into the woods… we'll just be off now. But just you wait missy until we get back to the house; your mother is going to have quite a few things to say to you."

"Can I at least say good-bye to James before I'm grounded for the rest of my life?" pleaded Lily with her big green eyes.

"I never could say no to you," said Albert softly. "But just one minute."

"Thank you daddy!" gushed Lily with a level of gratitude she didn't really feel.

She ran the short distance to James and hugged him tightly. Then in his ear she whispered, "Not tomorrow, but meet me the day after at the same time; Clarice and the rest of the house will be out of town then so you can use the front door. I love you James."

"Bye Lily," said James as he released her.

"Come along now Lillian," said Mr. Evans sternly when Lily paused to look into James's eyes for a little longer.

She smiled softly and then averted her gaze and followed her father. James instantly lost sight of her because she was surrounded by the men of the search party. Once he could no longer see the lights of the group he let out a deep groan and punched the nearest tree out of frustration. Soon afterwards he returned home.

After taking a very long and very cold shower, James was drying his hair with a towel while he walked into his room. When he could see again, he jumped because Sirius was silently sitting on his bed with a huge grin on his face.

"So how did it go lover boy?" he asked joyfully.

"Great," said James with a grin. "Until her dad showed up, with a search party."

Sirius snickered. "Bad luck there mate."

"I really kind of hate that man," admitted James lightly.

Sirius laughed and then said, "But at least you had a good time while it lasted right?"

"Yeah," said James suspiciously.

"That's good because I think your dad _might_ possibly know that you sneaked out to see her," said Sirius hoping that his smile would James think that things weren't as bad as they really were.

"You were supposed to cover for me!" shouted James.

"It's two in the bloody morning! Where was I supposed to say you were?" asked Sirius defensively.

"Anywhere! Dismantling Big Ben! Causing revolutions in Peru! Skiing in the Alps!"

"Well, sorry I didn't think to tell your dad that you were skiing in the middle of June or starting wars," said Sirius sarcastically as he reclined on James' bed. Once James started making ridiculous suggestions he knew the worst was over. "I don't even understand why you needed to sneak out; your parents know you're dating Lily and they adore her."

"Correction, my mum loves Lily; my dad told me I had to stop seeing her," said James as he began to pace. "And to complicate things more she told me tonight that she's leaving home, for good this time."

"And she asked to stay here," guessed Sirius.

"Yup," said James worriedly as he ran a hand through his hair. "How can I tell her no?"

"Where would she go?" asked Sirius. He frowned with concern.

"I dunno; she told me before the school year ended that she thinks it would be dangerous to hang out with any of her muggle friends because the war's been getting so bad lately. She doesn't want them to become targets," James informed Sirius.

"And she can't stay with Marlene because her parents are taking her on that cruise for the rest of the summer as a graduation present. What about Alice?"

"Her house is full enough already. She has her younger sisters and brothers, plus her aunt and uncle were killed in March, so her three cousins are living at her house as well," answered James.

"And Remus's parents are far too traditional to let Lily stay with them."

"And she is definitely not going to stay with Peter," added James.

Sirius actually laughed at the thought. Then he sobered up and asked, "So what are you going to do?"

James sank to the ground and leaned against his bed. "What can I do? I can't just let her live in some random flat or something; there's no way she would be safe. But I can't let her stay here either because I'm not even supposed to be seeing her much less living with her."

"Your mum would let her stay," stated Sirius.

"Yeah and?"

"Get her on your side, and maybe together you could change your dad's mind," suggested Sirius. "And you know that I'll help however I can."

"That might work; mum can be very persuasive."

Sirius chuckled. "Like the time she locked us all in a room last summer until we were friends again?"

James laughed. "Let's just hope she doesn't lock my dad and Lily in a room together until they resolve their differences."

"It'll work out; stuff like this always works out."

"I hope you're right," said James gravely.

"I always am," said Sirius reassuringly.

James reached up and yanked a pillow off of his bed. Then he proceeded to hit his best mate with it. Soon it was an all-out pillow fight and the two young men were able to temporarily forget that their world was growing darker by the minute.

**So, what did you think? I surprised you didn't I?! Yup, she said no. This is pretty much where the story goes AU; I figure that if I was sticking to canon she would have said yes. But it's me, so it couldn't possibly be that easy! **

**Anyway, thank you all for the reviews last chapter; it may not seem like it because it took me so long to write this, but they really did inspire me to write and update for you. So keep up the good work! Also, I'm sorry if I didn't respond to your review; I'm going to try to be better about that!**

**Now to help you with your reviewing, some questions:**

**What is you favorite moment for this chapter? The whole story up to this point?**

**Were the jobs what you expected?**

**How do you think Mr. Evans reacted to finding Lily in such a compromising position? How will Mr. Potter react to the knowledge that James sneaked out to see Lily? How will Mrs. Evans and Mrs. Potter react?**

**Is there anything you would like to see in the next chapter?**

**What do you think will happen at the Graduation Gala?**

**I'd love to hear your feedback!**

**~ AAA**


	41. Take Me Home

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Harry Potter or Harry Potter related copyrights.**

"Morning mum," said James cheerfully. It was his policy to pretend that nothing was wrong, so that if she didn't know something was wrong he wouldn't incriminate himself.

"Good morning James," replied Marilyn warmly. "Have some pancakes; they are particularly good this morning. Your father had four before he left."

"When did he leave?" asked James casually.

"About twenty minutes ago. It was surprising that he was able to eat so much because he left in an awful hurry. He and the team were setting out this morning on a mission in the south."

"When is he going to be home?"

Marilyn smiled softly, "He'll be home for the Gala honey, don't you worry. He wouldn't miss it for the world. It's only Wednesday, lately these missions haven't usually lasted more than a few days."

James sighed in relief. His mother thought that he was glad that his dad would be able to attend his big celebration, but really he was just relieved that he wouldn't have to deal with his dad for a few days, and that his dad had been in too much of a hurry to talk to his wife about James sneaking out.

"So what are you boys going to do today?" asked Marilyn as Sirius joined them at the table.

James and Sirius exchanged glances. "Maybe some Quidditch or a trip to Diagon Alley," remarked Sirius casually as he poured himself some orange juice.

"Sounds like fun," said Marilyn cheerily. "If you go by Diagon Alley be sure to pick up your dress robes; that will be one more thing off of my to-do list."

"Sure mum, we can do that." After an encouraging glance from Sirius, James interrupted his mother while she went over her list. "Um, mum? I have a big favor to ask."

"What is it honey?" she asked as she looked up from her long scroll.

"CouldLilycomeandstaywithusforthesummerandhopefullyforeverbecauseIdon'twanthertogoawaytoschool?" asked James in a rush.

Sirius put his face in his palm and just shook his head.

"I'm sorry, what was that?" Mrs. Potter laughed.

James took a deep breath and rallied his Gryffindor courage. Then calmly he said, "Lily doesn't want to live with her family anymore and she needs a place to stay; can she possibly live here?"

Mrs. Potter's face glowed with excitement and her eyes shone with happiness. "Of course! That would be wonderful! That poor girl; tell her to come as soon as she would like! I'll tell the house elves to prepare her room. Oh I can't wait! It will be so nice to have another girl in the house!

"Have a good day boys! I have to talk to Elsa about airing out Lily's room!" called Mrs. Potter as she piled her papers together and flounced out of the dining room.

"Look how happy you made her," said Sirius.

James let his head fall to the table with a dull thump and mumbled, "But just wait until my dad gets home."

"But you already have your mum on your side, and she's so thrilled about Lily coming to stay that she'll be sure to fight for it to happen. Plus, your dad can't deny her that much happiness," reasoned Sirius.

"I don't even know when Lily's leaving her house. She said not to visit her today but tomorrow I could. I need to talk to her," moaned James.

"She still has your mirror doesn't she?"

"No," sighed James. "She was afraid Petunia or the she-devil would take it so she gave it back to me on the train."

"Let's send owls to Moony and Wormtail and see if they can meet us at Diagon Alley; that will get your mind off of Lily and all of your many issues," suggested Sirius.

"I suppose," mumbled James as he allowed himself to be dragged off toward the family owlry.

-----

After assuring the "distressed" Clarice that Lily was perfectly fine, Albert led his daughter to his study.

"Now Lillian," said Albert calmly as he settled himself in his plush leather armchair. "You were always such a good little girl. Why did you sneak out of the house tonight?"

Petulantly Lily replied, "I sneak out of the house every other night; tonight was nothing special."

Albert viewed his teenaged daughter carefully. He remembered a similar situation with his eldest daughter, but Lily looked nothing like Violet in this moment. Violet had seemed to shrink into her chair looking mortified and penitent. Lily was also reclining in the armchair, but she looked bored, not at all embarrassed or worried. She looked haughty and unaffected.

Albert scoffed, "Honestly Lillian, no need to be dramatic; I think your mother and I would notice if you left every other night."

Lily sneered. "You really think so? That's funny because Clarice sends me to bed at nine every night so that I _can_ sneak out. She thinks that will help me find someone to whom she can sell me."

"Now you're just being ridiculous." Albert removed his glasses and rubbed his face tiredly. "But I want you to know that your mother and I don't blame you; we blame that wizard kid and that school for leading you astray."

Lily rolled her eyes. "Can I go now?"

Her attitude threw Albert for a loop. "We haven't discussed your punishment yet," he replied sternly.

"How could I forget?" asked Lily sarcastically. She crossed her arms over her chest and challenged him to punish her.

"I think that you should not be allowed to go on the trip to the spa with your mother and sisters on Thursday," said Albert victoriously.

"Oh darn," said Lily as she snapped her fingers emphatically. "And I was so looking forward to the trip I wasn't invited to go on in the first place."

"What?" spluttered Albert. "Why weren't you going to go?"

"Don't worry, staying here with you for the day will be punishment enough," said Lily cynically.

"If I wasn't so tired I would yell at you right now," stated Albert, his temper rising.

"Oh no! You would yell at me! How horrible; I'm _so_ scared," mocked Lily. "Well this has been a great little chat, but I believe it's past my bedtime."

Albert was speechless as Lily actually stood up and walked toward the door.

When he regained his verbal abilities, jumped up from his seat and yelled after her saying, "You can't leave! I'm not finished yet!"

"Don't worry, you'll berate me plenty on Thursday," said Lily dismissively without turning around. She waved her hand and then exited.

Albert fell back into his chair with a dull thump. He sat there for a long time wondering what happened to his sweet little red head who used to put bandages on her sisters' scraped knees, iron his shirts, and pay all the bills. She used to be so cute when she woke up at five to make him coffee, breakfast, and pack his lunch. He fondly recalled walking into the kitchen around midnight to find her head resting on a plastic pail, the sponge she used to wash the floor still clutched in her hand. Where had that little girl gone?

-----

"I'm not coming home this time Daze," Lily said tearfully. She was sitting on her sister's bed Wednesday afternoon as Daisy packed for her trip.

"You always come home," Daisy countered as she continued methodically folding her clothes.

"Not this time; I can't take it anymore."

"Why can't you just stay for the rest of the summer?" asked Daisy as she continued to refuse to look at her older sister. "You've done it before."

"I know Daisy," said Lily as tears streamed down her face. "But I can't. I can't take it anymore."

"Stop saying that!" burst Daisy as she violently threw a blouse to the ground. "You can do anything! If you really loved me you wouldn't leave me alone in this horror house!"

Lily melted when she saw her young sister crying. She stood up and went to her sister, gently pulling her into a hug.

"I miss mum," Daisy blubbered into Lily's comforting embrace.

"Me too," whispered Lily.

"She's gone, Violet's gone, Dad's gone, Petunia's gone… you were all I had left!" cried Daisy. "And now you're leaving me too!"

Lily could feel her heart breaking, but she knew she couldn't survive another summer.

"I'm going to talk to Dad, and I think things will change around here," soothed Lily. "I won't leave you alone I promise. You'll see; things will be different. You'll see."

"I love you Lily," cried Daisy as she tightened her hold on her sister.

Lily shut her eyes and concentrated solely on the feel of her sobbing sister in her arms. "I love you too, more than you will ever know."

-----

At exactly nine the following evening James was at Lily's front door. The previous 48 hours had seemed impossibly long to him; he couldn't imagine what it was going to be like when they were in separate schools in different countries. He rang the bell, but no one answered. He waited another minute, but he wanted to see Lily so badly he decided to just let himself into the house.

He had been in Lily's house once before, but that was for her birthday party and Sirius had led him through the halls. Also, at that time James was utterly frustrated at Lily, so he hadn't really bothered to look around. Now he was observing the horrible house that had imprisoned his girlfriend for years; he wanted to know what made her so desperate to leave.

The foyer James found himself in was very normal for an expensive mansion; the floor was white marble tiles, mirrors hung from the walls in golden frames, a polished and ornate mahogany staircase wound its way down the center of the room, and large vases perched delicately on spindly end tables. It was a beautiful and spotless room that oozed wealth and a conservative sense of style. There was only one thing that distinguished this house from the Potter home, warmth.

The entrance hall of Potter Manor was comprised of the same cold materials, marble, glass, and gold, but it was colorful and inviting. Family portraits adorned the walls, Persian carpets softened the harsh floor, and flowers brightened up the vases. Stateliness and formality still pervaded the Potter foyer, but somehow it didn't come off as sterile like the Evans's entrance hall.

The echo of James's footsteps on the marble was the only perceptible sound in the house. It seemed as if the mansion was completely abandoned; there wasn't even the soft swish of a feather duster to signal any human presence.

"Lily?" he whispered feeling nervous and slightly silly.

He peeked into every room, but none of them showed any indication that Lily had recently occupied them. After he ended back in the foyer he decided to explore the second floor. Due to his many years in large mansions, James quickly figured out where the bedrooms were located and went in the opposite direction; he didn't need any temptation.

He was idly walked down the hall, hands in his pockets, and looking at the boring seascapes and pastel flower paintings, when he heard a sudden crash and yelling. Curling his fingers around his wand, he quickly padded over to the double doors from whence the sound came and listened.

-----

"I'm leaving Dad," Lily told her father. "I'm never coming home again, because frankly, this isn't my home; it never has been."

"What?" asked Mr. Evans snippily. It was only nine at night and already he had consumed more than enough alcohol to warp his personality.

"Tomorrow morning I'm going to leave; I already have all my things packed."

"You ungrateful brat!" he spat. "You have no possessions! Everything you have I have given to you! How dare you even think of leaving and taking anything with you!"

"I'll leave it then," said Lily casually as she shrugged her shoulders. "I would be willing to leave everything behind just to be away from you and this house."

"What is your problem?!"

"You Dad, **you** are my problem!" screamed Lily with more emotion than she had expressed in front of her father in years.

"Me?" asked Mr. Evans quietly. He was taken aback and his anger dissipated as quickly as it had originated.

"Yes you," seethed Lily, her chest heaving. "You married that wretch Clarice without even asking me; I just came home from school and then it was 'here's a new house Lily, away from all your friends and everything you have ever known, and by the way you have a new mother to go with it!'! In fact we're going to pretend your mother never even existed! Except for those rare days, like her birthday and today, when you remember her by drowning yourself in alcohol!

"And who has to clean that mess up?! Me! That new wife of yours won't even stay in the same house with you when you're like this! No, she leaves me here to make sure you don't hurt yourself or burn the house down! So remind me again, why did you have to marry her?" she concluded rhetorically.

"You needed someone to take care of you girls; I couldn't do it by myself," Mr. Evans explained.

"You can't do it at all!" accused Lily. "You just let Clarice rule our lives! She doesn't know anything about us, but you do! Yet, you let her tell you that I shouldn't go to the school that I love, that I shouldn't talk to the people I love, that I should go on dates with men I hate. You knew better and said nothing! Nothing!" shrieked Lily as years of pent-up hurt rushed out.

"I thought some mother would be better than no mother."

"You thought wrong! It is because of you and that mistake you call my mother that I push away the man who loves me. He is a kind, wonderful man, and all I do is hurt him because my heart is so mangled and scarred it can't commit, can't love fully. I can't trust anyone because I will always be afraid that they will leave me, betray me, disappoint me, just like you did!"

"I never knew…"

"You never wanted to know!" yelled Lily spitefully. "You buried your head in your books, your work, your social life! You are an ostrich you sticks his head in the sand when danger comes! A turtle who sticks its head in its shell when it doesn't want to see! You are a bloody coward!"

"What could I do?" cried Albert. "I couldn't raise you girls; Daisy was only six, Petunia was only thirteen and you were only sixteen. You were too young to be worrying about bills, nutritional intake, and taxes. You should have been out having fun with your friends, going to parties, watching movies. I knew the day you sat me down and told me that I had exceeded my alcohol budget for the month that our family needed some help."

"We didn't need any help! I was managing! I took care of everything! Every time Petunia followed **your** example and drowned her misery in booze, I cleaned up the vomit! Daisy never once missed taking her medication or vitamins because I made sure she didn't! There was not a single bill that wasn't paid on time or early, even when I was away at school! For two whole years we were fine! And then I come home from my third year of school, and found out I had been replaced?!"

"You were too young for such responsibility; you were getting worry lines."

"What would you know about me? You weren't home ever, and when you were you were drunk! You have no idea what my life was like; you have no knowledge about the person I was forced to become."

"I never forced you to do anything," said Albert defensively.

"But you did!" said Lily violently. "If I had not bought groceries and paid the electric bill, we would have starved in the dark! You slacked off and encouraged Petunia to do the same, so everything fell to my shoulders!"

"Stop blaming me!" yelled Albert angrily as he covered his ears with his hands and shut his eyes.

"Never," spat Lily. "I will never stop blaming you for stealing my childhood!"

When Mr. Evans continued to 'stick his head in the sand,' Lily picked up a nearby decorative vase and threw it against the wall behind her father. It broke with a satisfying crash.

"Listen to me!" screamed Lily. "Stop hiding and running away you coward!"

Mr. Evans's eyes took in the shards of the vase and his livid daughter; then he factored in his own feelings of resentment and shame and fear. The result was anger.

"How dare you call me a coward you disobedient, disrespectful wretch!" thundered Mr. Evans. With each word he took an emphatic step toward Lily. "I have given you everything you have ever asked for!"

Even though her dad was half a head taller than her and his anger made it seem as if he towered over her even more, Lily's years of resentment allowed her to stand her ground. "All I wanted was my father," spat Lily.

Then Mr. Evans did something he never would have down had he been sober, he slapped his daughter. He had never laid a hand on any of his daughters in the many years he had been a parent, never. He was triumphant, smug for a moment. Then he saw fear, horror, and shock on his daughter's face as she crawled backwards away from him. Next he saw half of her face become inflamed. Then shame and misery flooded him. He sank to his knees and put his head in his hands and cried.

"I'm so sorry Lily, so sorry, I didn't mean to, I don't know what I was thinking," he sobbed.

Lily stayed where she was, tears of fear and hurt still streaming down her face.

"My baby, my baby," he whimpered, as he started to crawl over to her as if to comfort her.

Lily scampered away as fast as she could. This only provoked more tears from Mr. Evans.

"What have I done?!" he howled.

"More than enough," said James coolly as he scooped Lily up in his strong arms.

"What are you doing?!" screeched Albert as James carried Lily away. He attempted to stand and go after them, but stumbled over his own feet. "Help me Lily!" he implored.

Lily lifted her head off of James's shoulder and said, "Never again. I don't even care if you burn this place down anymore! I've been cleaning up after you since I was twelve! I was twelve Dad! Twelve, not sixteen! Petunia's older than I am!"

"Come on Lily," said James softly. "I'm taking you home."

With a whimper Lily melted back into James's embrace and let herself be carried out of the house she hated and into the woods where she found solace.

Once there James asked, "Do you want a minute, or do you want me to take you to my house now."

"Get me out of here," begged Lily. "Take me home."

-----

"Lily?! What happened?" called Sirius worriedly as he saw James walking into the entrance hall with the aforementioned girl in his arms.

Mrs. Potter, who was also nearby, ran into the hall when she heard Lily mentioned. "What happened?!" she echoed as she rushed over.

Ignoring both questions James said, "I'm going to take Lily upstairs; she's had a rough night."

Mrs. Potter looked at her son with a glance that said 'I want a full explanation later,' and nodded. Sirius sent James a similar look as he stepped aside so that James could climb the staircase.

James opened the door to Lily's bedroom and smiled. Something about this felt right. The doors to the balcony were open, letting a slight breeze drift in and flutter the sheer white curtains. There was a lit candle on the nightstand that made the warm yellow color of the walls glow, and the coverlet was turned down.

Gently James placed Lily on top of the quilt, and sat down bedside her.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"No," whimpered Lily. Her eyes were puffy from crying and her cheek was swollen and red. She was altogether a pathetic sight.

After a few minutes during which James and Lily simply gazed at each other, Lily broke the silence by whispering, "Thank you."

James smiled softly, "You're welcome."

Several more minutes passed in a similar fashion until James ventured to ask, "Did you know that that was going to happen?"

"I didn't know that this was going to happen," Lily trailed off as she traced her injury with her fingertips. "But yes, I knew that my father was going to drink tonight and I purposefully poured out years of frustration. I did it because I knew that he wouldn't be able to hide his feelings or hold back because his judgment would be impaired. Also I could say whatever I wanted and there would be a high chance he wouldn't remember any of it."

"Do you feel better?" James insightfully asked.

"Yes and no," said Lily as she traced the lines of James's palm. "I finally told him how I felt, but he's still my dad and ending my relationship with him hurts."

"You were in a lose-lose situation; it would've hurt to stay and it hurts to go," said James wisely.

"It doesn't hurt me as much as it is going to hurt him. I left him a letter telling him not to try to contact me anymore, that I was finished with him. It also told him to be a better father, not to scar Daisy like he maimed me. I told him to cherish the only daughter who still loved him," she sobbed.

James pulled Lily onto his lap and held her tightly. He stroked her hair and rubbed her back and murmured any comforting word he could summon.

Eventually Lily was drained of all tears; she felt tired, wilted, and empty. When James made a motion to lay her back down, she tightened her grip on her neck.

"I need you James," she whispered fiercely. "Please don't leave me."

"This is going to get us in trouble again," he responded maturely.

"Leave the door open," suggested Lily.

As he looked at her forlorn expression that was similar to a kitten who has lost its mother and is now alone on the streets of London during a thunderstorm, James wondered what he wouldn't do to take away her pain. Nothing came to mind.

"Okay," he consented. He laid down beside her and wrapped a loving arm around her waist as she curled into him.

"Did you talk to your dad?" Lily asked him.

"About what?"

"Me."

"No, he's been away on an auror mission since early yesterday."

"Why doesn't he want you to date me?" asked Lily, her voice quivering slightly.

James sighed and tightened his grip on Lily. "This isn't exactly a bedtime story, but I'll tell you if you want."

"Please."

"Well, you know how they say that history repeats itself? Well, when my dad was a seventh year, also Head Boy like yours truly, he was in love with a muggleborn named Eleanor. He brought her to the family Christmas Eve party, and everything seemed fine, but when the couple didn't break up, my grandfather told my dad that he had to break up with her because he was the oldest son and thus required to marry a pureblood and have pureblood heirs. Also like me, he refused and sneaked out to see the love of his life. Somehow his parents didn't catch him… but they did kind of figure it out when he and Eleanor went to my grandparents and told them that they were grandparents."

"Your mom, isn't really your mom?" gasped Lily. "You're not really a pureblood?"

"No, I'm not really an only child; I have a half-sister named Elizabeth. She's fifteen years older than me, lives in France, and is married with some kids. Also no one knows about her existence except my mom, dad, her mom, me, and you. After Eleanor told my grandparents she was pregnant, they sent her away and my dad didn't see her for like thirteen years. My mom found her so that my dad could have closure and stop pining after her; he did, he fell in love with my mom, two years after they had been married. I was born the following year."

"So your dad is doing the same thing to you that his dad did to him?"

"Except we're different; I'm not going to let him come between us," promised James with intense passion. "I love you Lily and I can't live without you."

"Oh, James," sighed Lily as she turned in his arms so she was facing him. "How can we keep going when it seems as if everything and everyone is out to stop our relationship?"

"We've made it this far," rationalized James.

"We have," agreed Lily quietly.

"We'll figure out the rest as we go," James told her. "We'll figure it out together, always together."

"Merlin I love you," said Lily as she snuggled closer to him.

From outside the door Marilyn Potter found her heart swelling with anger toward her husband by forbidding this wonderful relationship, and love for her son who had become the man she had always hoped he would be. Although she had the same morals and values as her husband, she trusted the couple, and didn't even mind that they were sharing a bed for the night. She knew that they needed each other, and she was glad that they had found each other.

**A/N. So there wasn't really any musical inspiration for this chapter… but here are some questions!**

**How do you feel about Mr. Evans now?**

**How do you think Mr. Potter will react to all of this?**

**Favorite/ cutest Lily/James moment?**

**Current favorite or least favorite character?**

**Thoughts/ hopes for the coming chapters?**

**Thank you all for reading! Impress me with your reviews and the next chapter is yours!**

**~AAA**


	42. Têteàtêtes

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Harry Potter or Harry Potter related copyrights.**

"Marilyn, Marilyn, where are we going?" asked Christopher tiredly. He had just arrived home from his mission and was exhausted; the only place he wanted to go to was his bed.

"You'll see," she replied in a fierce whisper. "I want to show you something."

"What- I'll kill him!" hissed Christopher as he saw his sleeping son.

"You'll do no such thing!" whispered his wife as she tugged on his hand and led him away. Once they were behind the closed doors of their bedroom, Marilyn whirled on her husband and unleashed her fury. "You told our son he couldn't see Lily anymore!"

"Marilyn," sighed Christopher. "You know what will happen-"

"No!" interrupted Marilyn. "I don't know what will happen and neither do you! He's your pigheaded son alright, but that doesn't mean he'll make the same mistakes you did. You have no right to mandate whom he does or does not date!"

"But Marilyn, she's muggleborn."

"So?!" demanded Marilyn.

"He can't marry her, so it's just cruel to lead her on," reasoned Christopher.

"HE. CAN'T. MARRY. HER." spat Marilyn.

"Well yeah," said Christopher intelligently as he ran a hand through his hair. "He has to marry a pureblood and continue the family line."

Marilyn was livid. "All his life we taught James to never buy into blood prejudice, that he wasn't better than anyone else because of his magical heritage. And now you decide to reverse eighteen years and tell him that the woman he loves isn't good enough for him because she wasn't born into a magical family!" she thundered.

"He has a responsibility as the Potter heir…"

"Honestly Christopher," huffed Marilyn. "This is the twentieth century not the second!"

"Every single Potter has married a pureblood since the second century, why should James be any different?!"

"Times are changing Christopher; maybe you should learn to change with them! You're just as prejudiced as your ancestors."

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying that you are no different from the Blacks or the Malfoys," she said gently. "Every day you go out to fight against people who are trying to kill muggleborns, and then you come home and do the same thing."

"I don't come home and kill muggleborns; apparently I house them!" shouted Christopher angrily.

Marilyn didn't let herself get riled up again. "But darling, by throwing her out or cutting her out of James's life you might as well kill her; she needs him."

"Give me a break Marilyn," scoffed Christopher as he crossed his arms antagonistically. "They're eighteen; they don't _need_ each other. And don't even try to tell me that they're really _in love_! They don't know what love is!"

Marilyn surveyed her husband coldly. "Are you going to try to tell me that **you** weren't really in love when you were his age? That the **not**-love you experienced when you were eighteen didn't consume you for **fourteen** **years**?"

"That was different!" protested Christopher.

"How?" challenged Marilyn. When Christopher failed to produce a value response she continued, "Exactly! There is no difference! You're just a great big hypocrite!"

"But Mary," soothed Christopher. "My father turned out to be right in the end. Eleanor and I would never have worked; you are the one who was right for me."

Marilyn was not so easily won over. "Don't you dare," she seethed. "You only married me because I was the least pureblood girl available, the closest thing to your Eleanor! Just because things eventually worked out for us doesn't mean it would work out for James!"

"Marilyn, I know that you adore her, but she's not capab- right for the task of being a Potter."

"She's not capable?!" asked Marilyn, her brow knit with disbelief. "You saw her at the ball; her table manners are immaculate, her dancing is impeccable, and her small talk is more impressive than yours! I have no doubt that Lily could be a better Mrs. Potter than I am! Her step-mother has spent the last four years grooming her for this life; so don't even try to use that pathetic excuse."

"Please just trust me on this one," sighed Christopher. "I know what I'm doing."

"No," responded Marilyn stubbornly. "I'm not backing down this time. I'm sorry Christopher but I'm not going to play the part of your perfect little wife. I lost a lot of my defiance when I married you, but I still have a spark left."

"You're not going to change my mind Marilyn, no matter what you say or do," stated Christopher firmly.

Marilyn bristled with indignation. "You can say whatever you want to James, but that will not make him respect you or obey you. You had better watch yourself Christopher or you may find yourself without a son to rule over. He's you, but with twice the cunning and three times the rebelliousness. And Lily's staying."

And with that Marilyn stormed out of the room, leaving Christopher staring after her with a mixture of anger and confusion. He couldn't remember the last time that she had actually defied him, and her words certainly upset him greatly. So he did the only thing he could think of, he went to bed and slept. Typical.

Meanwhile Marilyn raged around the mansion and belittled the house elves. They were used to it though; some of them had already started baking the usual chocolate cake.

Elsewhere, Sirius, James, and Lily continued to sleep peacefully. Their involvement in the drama didn't begin until nine.

-----

Later that day Christopher was wandering throughout the mansion avoiding his wife, son, and surrogate son. He was passing the library when he heard a yelp and then a crash. Naturally he went in to investigate.

"Are you okay?" asked Christopher before he could help himself.

"Fine," replied Lily as she got off of the ground and straightened herself out.

"What were you doing?" asked Mr. Potter suspiciously.

"I was looking for a book to read and I saw one that looked interesting, so I reached out to grab it but fell off of the ladder. But, the fall was worth it because I got the book," she concluded, waving said book triumphantly.

"You are something else," commented Mr. Potter with disapproval written on his face.

Lily turned to fully face Mr. Potter, and he caught sight of the large bruise that covered her cheek.

"What happened?" he asked with concern. If James had hit her, he really would kill him.

Shyly Lily put her palm up to her cheek to cover the injury. "My father slapped me," she admitted quietly.

Mr. Potter frowned. "May I ask why?"

Lily shrugged. "I told him that he stole my childhood and called him a coward."

"That's all?" asked Mr. Potter, his eyebrows raised in surprise.

"I think I failed to mention that he was smashed out of his mind at the time because it was the anniversary of my mother's death," stated Lily objectively. "It's somewhat of a tradition in my family; the drinking part not the hitting part, that was a surprise."

"You have a lot of emotional baggage."

"No offense sir, but so does your son."

"James?" questioned Mr. Potter. Her statement caught him off guard.

"Well yeah," affirmed Lily. "He has been trying to make you proud probably since he was born, but you didn't seem to have a ton of time for him. He told me that one of his favorite memories ever was when you took him to a Quidditch game when he was five. Don't you find that incredibly pathetic?"

"These are very bold words for someone who is depending upon my hospitality."

"Send me back to my father," challenged Lily.

Ignoring this, Mr. Potter gestured to a pair of armchairs and said, "Won't you sit down?"

"I'm not going to suck up to you Mr. Potter; that's not my style. I tell it like it is."

Mr. Potter sat back in his chair, one arm crossed over his chest, the other perpendicular to it and cupping his chin. He scrutinized her for a few moments and then said, "You have brought turbulence into my life since James met you September first in your first year. You have been the object of his fixation for seven years. You're right, I haven't always been there for my son, but inevitably any conversation we had about school contained some reference to you. These references changed as he aged and I could tell that he fancied you. Then you decided to date him, and I was excited for him because I thought he could finally get over his infatuation; I never thought that he would actually fall in love with you. I never wanted that for him.

"I'm sure he's told you about my past, and why I told him I wanted him to break things off with you. You're intelligent; I am sure that you understand my reasoning even if he does not."

"I understand your reasoning, but respectfully choose to disregard it."

"I can see why my wife likes you; she sees herself, herself as she was many many years ago, in you. My wife and I bicker a lot, but then the house elves bake a cake and everything is fine again. I can't remember the last time we actually had a real argument, a real disagreement. Again, you bring chaos into my life."

"I bring chaos into a lot of lives," said Lily reflectively. "I'm a muggleborn who refuses to conform to the mold, a muggleborn who doesn't think she has "dirty blood," who doesn't believe that she is inferior to anyone else. Yeah, I've brought chaos into the lives of the Blacks, the Lestranges, the Malfoys, the Potters…"

Lily let the last word linger and added to its poignancy with a pointed look at her boyfriend's father.

"You really don't beat around the bush do you?"

"No sir," affirmed Lily, her head held high.

"I want you to know that I don't think less of you as a person because of your heritage…"

"You just don't want me contaminating the blood of all of your descendants," Lily cut in.

"You make it sound so…"

"Terrible?" suggested Lily. "That's because it is terrible."

"You make me speechless," admitted Mr. Potter. "I have never been made speechless by a teenaged girl before, not even when I was a teenager."

"Well I'm pretty sure this will leave you even more speechless," began Lily. "And I hope it does because I'm asking you not to convey what I'm about to tell you to anyone by any means, not even Mrs. Potter or James, especially not James. On my birthday a couple of weeks ago, James asked me to marry him."

"He what?!"

"Before you say anything else, I didn't say yes." After Christopher's blood pressure went back down and he sighed in relief, Lily continued. "But I didn't say no because of you; I said no because I'm not ready to get married and neither is James."

"Damn right he's not!" agreed Christopher.

"He asked me to marry him because he's afraid that when I go away in September I'll find someone better than him. I may find someone who has better test scores, or a bigger bank account, but I love James just as he is and no one can usurp his place in my heart. James and I may never get married, we might not even make it through the next three years of a long distance relationship, but I will be here as long as he will have me.

"I know you probably don't believe that James and I love each other because you're a reasonable and sensible man. Honestly, I never used to believe that teenagers could truly love each other either. But I really do think that I love him and he loves me because he has stayed with me through all of my drama and crap. He pulled me out of a very dark place; I'm a psychological wreck, yet he didn't give up on me like everyone else in my life. My best friends, my sisters, my dad, they all closed their eyes to the parts they didn't want to see. James didn't," said Lily, her voice breaking as she tried to choke back tears.

"Everyone saw the dark place, but James was the only who dared to go there to pull me out. I needed him then and I still need him now. He's the only one who stays with me. He knows that he will get in trouble for staying with me but he does it anyway. Now try and convince me that this is a silly infatuation, and believe me I know silly infatuations."

"I don't think this is a silly infatuation," said Christopher softly. "That is what worries me. I'm asking you, please don't see my son anymore."

Lily collected herself, and explained in a clear and level voice. "I'm sorry Mr. Potter, but I can't do that."

Christopher smiled wanly. "I didn't expect anything else." Then he rose and said, "You are welcome to stay here for as long as you like, and don't let anyone tell you that you are inferior, especially me. Enjoy your book."

"Thank you," said Lily with a slight smile.

Mr. Potter just nodded and left.

As he entered the foyer he saw Marilyn directing the house elves in decorations.

"She can stay," he stated firmly as he passed his wife quickly.

Marilyn smiled as she watched him jog up the stairs. She returned to her tasks with much more enthusiasm and joy.

"James?" called Mr. Potter as he peered into his son's room.

Directly behind him, Sirius was just shutting his bedroom door. "He's thinking," explained Sirius.

"And where would that momentous occasion be taking place?" asked Mr. Potter lightly.

Sirius looked at him skeptically, and suddenly Christopher felt small. "On a broomstick."

"Of course," said Mr. Potter, trying to recover the dignity he had felt he had lost.

"He's probably throwing a quaffle through the hoops on the pitch," added Sirius.

"I'll see you later Sirius," said Christopher as he hurriedly left.

Christopher walked slowly toward the pitch wondering what kind of father didn't know where his son went to think. He had thought they had really… connected at Christmas time; they had spent a couple of afternoons together and Christopher thought he had really gotten to know James. It turned out that a few hours weren't enough to make up for years of neglect. She had been right; James did have emotional baggage because of him.

Before he knew it, Christopher was lost, lost on his own estate. He had lived there all his life and yet he couldn't find the Quidditch pitch in his backyard. Eventually he did get his bearings and strolled through the tunnel and into his son's haven.

For a moment he just stood there, hands in pockets, and gazed around. He hadn't been in the pitch since James was seven. He was dumbfounded by this. How could he have let himself get **that** carried away by his career? How could he value something more than his only son? It embarrassed him to reflect on how many times he had pushed James aside.

"_Hey Dad!" called James. He had just turned eight and was clutching the brand-new broom he had just received for his birthday with such enthusiasm and raw excitement that it seemed to light up his whole being. "Can we go flying now?"_

"_Sorry son," said Christopher as he absently ruffled his son's hair. "It was a hard day at the Ministry, and I still have some paperwork to do, maybe tomorrow."_

_James's face fell and his light promptly went out, but he tried not to let his father see that he was hurt. His dad was a big strong auror; he was never hurt by anything or anyone. James vowed to live up to his father's example. He nodded and said, "Sure Dad, sounds great."_

_If Christopher had been paying a little more attention he would have seen the tears shimmering in young James's eyes, and he would have heard the quaver in his voice. Unfortunately, Auror Potter only had brain space for his latest case and the possibility of a promotion._

_He received the promotion. He never went flying with James._

Once he woke up from his reverie, Christopher scanned the sky. James was nowhere in sight. Reacting defensively, Christopher grabbed his wand and took in a 360 degree scan of the pitch. He relaxed as he recognized a messy mop of black hair sitting in the stands. He also recognized the second head with a very similar hair style. When did Harry arrive? Christopher didn't even know he was visiting much less noticed him flying with James. And now they were talking?

"_Hey Harry! Why weren't you at the party last night?" one auror asked the younger Potter as he walked into the department that morning._

"_I was babysitting my nephew," explained Harry without one ounce of regret._

"_But mate, that was an important dinner! Simmons totally kissed the captain's ass! There's no way you'll beat him out for a recommendation now."_

_Harry shrugged._

"_You were babysitting Christopher's kid, James?"_

"_My one and only nephew," said Harry proudly. "That kid is so smart…"_

_The auror interrupted him saying, "If anyone would have understood it would be Christopher. There's no way he would have done whatever he was doing if he knew that you were sacrificing your career to babysit his kid."_

"_He was advancing his own career," responded Harry. "That sort of thing matters to him; personally I would rather spend the evening with my wife and nephew baking sugar cookies and making forts in the living room than suck up to stuffy old men who smell funny."_

_The auror laughed and asked, "Are you sure you weren't adopted?"_

_Christopher had heard the whole conversation, and it had stuck with him. How could his younger brother, a Potter, care so little about his career? How could he be so bold as to say such things where anyone could hear? He would definitely have to have a word with him…_

"It will be okay James," soothed Harry.

"How will this be okay?" asked James doubtfully. He had just finished telling his tale of woe and he couldn't believe that his uncle's response was so optimistic.

"If your dad kicks you out or Lily out or you both out, either or both of you can come live with me. I'll even let you share your room!" sang Christopher.

"Uncle Harry," said James as his rolled his eyes and suppressed a laugh. "That room has two single beds."

"Therein lies my genius," said Harry with his booming laugh. "But in all seriousness, both you and Lily are always welcome with your Auntie Eileen and me; we would love to have you. In fact, why don't the two of you come for dinner tonight? This time Eileen and I will cook."

"That sounds good Uncle Harry, thanks, and thanks for listening. All dad ever does is yell."

"He loves you James," stated Harry intensely.

"He loves his job; he tolerates me," said James in a rare moment of vulnerability.

Harry stared a James for a long moment; his shoulders were stooped and his gaze was directed to the floor. "My brother has made many mistakes in his life; his greatest one was somehow convincing you that he didn't love you. James, don't doubt for a minute that your dad wouldn't jump in front of any curse for you, that he ever has anything but your best interest in mind, that he doesn't love you more than his own life. If anything ever happened to you I don't think he would ever recover."

Harry paused and then smiled as he recounted a particular story. "When you were a year, maybe a year and a half, your mom brought you to the McKinnon's house to play with Marlene and her brothers while she gossiped with Mrs. McKinnon. One of the boys, I can never remember which is which, had a cold and you caught it. Your dad was going out of his mind. He flew off the handle every time you sneezed. He paced for hours, having the healer check your temperature every ten minutes. That poor healer, all you had was a simple cold that magic couldn't treat, and yet your dad wouldn't let him go home. And of course you cried half the night because you were sick. Your dad must have sworn two dozen times to kill the McKinnon boys, promised you at least a thousand times that he would never let you get sick again, and ordered your mother to never let you outside of the house again at least twice an hour.

"He may not show it like that anymore, but your dad doesn't love you any less now than he did that night seventeen years ago. I regret that you can't remember it; I think you would have a different opinion of your dad," concluded Harry.

"He's a good dad," said James solemnly as he nodded his head. His forearms were resting on his thighs, and Harry realized how old James had gotten. Physically he had changed very little, but Harry could see the growth in his eyes "I mean, look at Sirius's dad or even Lily's."

"Lily's?" asked Harry in disbelief.

James looked at his uncle and nodded. "After her mother died he did absolutely nothing for her or her sisters. The only thing he could think of was to get married and the woman he picked to take care of his daughters was a vicious bitch who ruined Lily's childhood, well what was left of it. And he gets drunk like clockwork several times a year. Everyone else deserts him, can't stand to be around him, but Lily stuck by him and cleaned up after him. And yesterday she finally let out all of the hurt she's felt for the last four years and he slapped her."

"He slapped her?"

"So hard it bruised," James nodded again. "I took her back here, and my mum said she could stay- mum loves her- but I haven't heard from dad yet. I don't know how he'll take it seeing as I was supposed to break up with her, not invite her to live with me."

"He'll probably yell," said James and Harry at the same time.

"And if things don't go well, send Lily down the lane and Eileen and I will take care of her," added Harry.

"I guess I had better go find my dad now then," said James glumly. "Before he finds me."

"Too late," came a voice from behind. "He found you first."

"_Mum, you're not going to tell Dad are you?" asked a twelve-year-old James fearfully as he returned home for spring holiday._

"_James Christopher Potter! You blew up an entire loo! Your father will definitely hear about this when he gets home!" shouted a livid Marilyn as she raged around the parlor waving the letter from Professor McGonagall._

"_But mum," whined James. "Can't you just punish me?! Dad never needs to know!"_

"_Dad never needs to know what?" asked Mr. Potter suspiciously as he entered the room._

_James gulped._

James gulped. "Hi Dad."

"Here's the deal James: she can stay as long as she isn't pregnant. So take this advice, don't take the chance. And for the record, I like her," said Christopher with a warm smile. Then he departed as suddenly as he had appeared.

"He didn't yell," stated Harry in wonder once his big brother was out of earshot.

"He didn't yell," affirmed James also with a look of shock on his handsome face.

**A/N. So here's another chapter! I hope you enjoyed it and I look forward to hearing from you (especially those of you who used to review when I set a review quota and now no longer care enough to leave a nice or nasty comment).**

**Here are some questions to help you leave reviews and in turn get the next chapter sooner:**

**How do you feel about Christopher now?**

**Are you happy that Harry has returned? Would you like to see even more of him?**

**Did you like the flashbacks? Would you like to see more of them?**

**What do you think of Lily?**


	43. Cinnamon Buns

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Harry Potter or Harry Potter related copyrights.**

"You're up early for someone who isn't a morning person," stated Lily as Sirius dragged himself into one of the manor's many informal dining rooms.

"I could smell the cinnamon buns baking," replied Sirius as he rested his head on the table. "Cinnamon buns are always worth getting up for."

"Isn't seeing my shining face enough to make you want to get up and have an early breakfast with me?" asked Lily with a fake pout.

"I think you may have me confused for my best mate. Even though you do have a lovely face, only food can get me up this early. Speaking of Prongs, where is he?"

"I wouldn't know; I haven't seen him this morning," Lily replied loftily.

Sirius lifted his head just enough so that he could look at Lily and vehemently state, "Bullshit."

"While normally I would agree with you, I really haven't seen James this morning; we figured that we could only push Mr. Potter so far."

"Good move," mumbled Sirius, whose head was once again resting on the table.

"Hey Sirius, look, cinnamon buns!" called Lily suddenly.

"Where?" asked Sirius as his head whipped up so fast he nearly got whiplash.

Lily didn't even bother to stifle her laughter. "Just kidding!"

"Just kidding?! Just kidding?!" asked Sirius as the volume of his voice increased with each syllable. "You have much to learn about living in Potter manor, and the first lesson is that you never **ever** joke about cinnamon buns!" he cried as he hurriedly pushed back from the table and began to approach Lily with a familiar glint in his eye.

"Do you know what the punishment for such a crime is?" he asked her.

"I have no idea," she said as she let another giggle escape her lips.

"Death by tickling," he informed her gravely as he launched himself at her, knocking her to the ground.

"How did you know I was ticklish?" gasped Lily.

"Prongs told me," replied Sirius as he continued to mercilessly tickle Lily. "Now I could tickle you to death, or the only acceptable alternative is for you to say these words exactly: 'Sirius you are far more sexy, athletic, and all around brilliant than James, and I have no idea why I haven't left him for you yet.'"

"Those words exactly?"

"It's the only way," said Sirius, grinning.

"Okay, okay!" shouted Lily when her sides hurt from laughing so much. "Get off me you big lump and I'll say it."

Sirius obliged her and then helped her up. As soon as she opened her mouth to fulfill her punishment, Sirius cut her off by saying, "I may have failed to mention but you have to get down on one knee and declare the words in a dramatic fashion."

Lily just laughed and did as she was told. She got down on one knee and took Sirius's right hand in hers. "Sirius," she said with an enormous grin on her face. "You are far more sexy, brilliant and athletic than James and I can't believe that I haven't left him for you yet."

Sirius shook with laughter. "Close enough," he declared as he pulled her up. He then surprised her by pulling her into a hug.

"What was that for?" asked Lily with a short laugh.

"I'm just glad you moved in," said Sirius somewhat awkwardly; feelings really weren't his thing. "I thought it was going to be weird and it really isn't."

"Sirius," laughed Lily. "We've lived together since we were eleven."

"Hogwarts was different; technically we were living with Slytherins too but I wouldn't invite any of them to live in Potter Manor with us," Sirius pointed out.

"You also lived with me in my house last summer," Lily countered.

"But it wasn't you, me, and your boyfriend-slash-my best mate living all together," Sirius stated pointedly.

Lily rolled her eyes. "You thought it was going to be weird because James and I are living in the same house? We're not _that_ bad. And there was only a staircase separating us before."

"And now there's only a hallway."

"Oh big difference," said Lily in an exaggerated fashion. "Like a staircase would have ever stopped James or I if we really wanted to sleep in each other's dorms."

"You're right," mused Sirius. "It didn't seem to ever stop **you**, but I don't recall James ever getting up into your room."

"That was because you two never figured it out," said Lily smugly.

"Why are you looking so smug?" asked Sirius defensively. He had forgotten that getting up the girls' staircase had been a goal of his and James's.

"Because Remus and I figured it out third year," responded Lily before she actually thought about what she was saying.

Sirius was floored. "That bloody b******," he cursed. "He knew and never told the rest of us? Think of all the stuff we could have done to you girls if we had been able to get up to your dormitory."

"I think that was precisely why Remus never told you. But I must say, that having that sort of access does make pranking far more fun and effective."

"Not that you pranked us all that often," said Sirius haughtily. "What, once maybe twice all seven years?"

"As if," scoffed Lily. "You're lucky we had better things to do seventh year because you would have been royally screwed."

"I doubt we would have even noticed your **amateur** efforts," boasted Sirius.

Lily, standing on her tiptoes, got right into Sirius's face, and grinning widely, issued a challenge. "You will eat your words Black. I challenge you to a prank war."

"Okay," said Sirius confidently. "What are your terms, **Evans**?"

"Start is tomorrow morning at 12:01 a.m. until 11:59 p.m. August 31 or either of us surrenders unconditionally. Anything goes?"

"Anything?" asked Sirius with a raised eyebrow.

Lily clarified. "Anything short of death, or permanent damage to a person or reputation."

"Sounds like my kind of game," said Sirius as he extended his hand.

"You're on," said Lily, her green eyes flashing with a dangerous glint that Sirius recognized all too well.

As he shook her hand Sirius finally understood why James was willing to do anything for Lily. "I can see why James loves you."

Lily blushed, and asked, "And what about you?"

Sirius was caught off guard. His original family members were the last people on Earth to ever share their feelings, the Marauders weren't much better, and the Potters, though loving, were limited in their expression of affection by traditional rules of propriety and formality. So, all in all, Sirius was emotional crippled. Never in his life had he told someone he loved them and meant it. Of course, before Lily, he had never been friends with a girl either; she just broke down all sorts of walls and boundaries.

And now she was looking at him with those piercing eyes of hers; it was like she was reading his soul. He could see that she knew exactly how much she was challenging him and she _enjoyed_ it.

"Me too," he finally stammered without looking at her.

"You too what?" she inquired.

"I love you," he finally said. Sirius was shocked that his voice didn't shake or come out in a whisper.

Lily smiled her hundred watt smile as she hugged Sirius tightly and said, "I love you too Sirius!"

Remus, who was standing in the doorway, watching this exchange, turned to his friend Peter, and speaking in a high and girlish voice, declared, "And I love you Petey-pie!"

"Oh Remmy-poo I love you too!" announced Peter as he reciprocated Remus's sentiment in the same ridiculous fashion, extending his arms and clasping Remus tightly.

Unfortunately, James was caught in the middle of this pseudo love-fest.

"Oh look, cinnamon buns!" called Lily as she released Sirius and in turn released James from being ensnared by his mates who were making obnoxious kissy sounds.

"I don't see any cinnamon buns," James whispered to Lily as she joined him in the doorway.

"That's because there aren't any; come on before they find out," urged Lily as she grabbed his hand and fled the room.

Once the teenaged boys discovered that the house elf was carrying a platter of fruit and not the coveted cinnamon buns, an enraged roar was heard throughout the house. Fortunately for the two lovebirds, they were far away by that time. Throughout his lonely childhood James had thoroughly explored his mansion and that information had certainly come in handy at that moment. Within minutes James and Lily were safely in the woods, far from harm.

After glancing around to be sure they were alone, and allowing their heart rates to return to normal, James kissed Lily slowly and gently and then said, in his husky morning voice, "How was your morning?"

"It was pretty average, I declared my undying love for Sirius, tricked him about cinnamon buns twice, and challenged him to a prank war. Now about this prank war, anything goes and it starts tomorrow morning…"

"Wait, back up to the part about your undying love for… Sirius?" asked James skeptically.

"Oh relax James," sighed Lily. "You know that we're just friends."

"You two seem like more than friends a lot…" muttered James.

Lily smiled softly and put a gentle palm on either side of James's face and pulled him close to her so that she was the only thing in his vision. "Sirius only ever has been and ever will be a friend, a brother to me. We're close because we have a lot in common like crap families, and family names that cause people to give us crap. We understand each other and help each other out, but we are not romantically involved in any way. It's like you and Marlene; you grew up together so she knows and understands things about you that I never will but I'm okay with that because I have accepted the fact that I am not the only person in your life who is important to you."

Unconvinced, James muttered, "I never kissed Marlene."

For his sake Lily resisted rolling her eyes and instead closed the miniscule gap between their faces. Unlike many of their kisses, this kiss was rushed, hot, and heavy. Lily wasted no time in parting James's surprised lips with her tongue. After a brief and flirty dance with his tongue, she began to explore his mouth leaving him wanting more. With a final flick, Lily's tongue retreated to her own mouth, but as expected James's tongue followed. Eventually oxygen was needed and the sexy tongue dance had to come to a dramatic finish. A final caress of her lips was the encore Lily provided to an already stellar performance.

"I **never** kissed Sirius like that," panted Lily.

"Damn right," quipped James before he captured his foxy lady's lips again.

------

"Sirius I need a favor," announced Lily as she jumped over the back of a sofa and plopped into the seat next to Sirius.

He lowered his crossword puzzle and snorted. "And I need a cinnamon bun. Oh wait, just kidding there aren't any!"

"I'm not joking Sirius; you're the only one I can ask."

Instantly shifting gears, Sirius asked, "What's wrong?"

"It's a really big favor," said Lily in a small voice.

"Lils, you know I'll do anything for you," said Sirius gently as he put a reassuring shoulder around the unusually timid teen and pulled her to his muscular side.

"Lils?" she asked.

"Just roll with it," he told her.

"I like it."

"So out with the favor already; for a genius you're awfully slow," he teased.

"I need you to go back to my father's house to get my stuff. Mrs. Potter has leant me clothes and stuff, but I really want my own toothbrush and a dress to wear tonight and I really can't go back into that house. Everything is packed and ready to go because I had planned to leave a little differently a.k.a. not crying as James carried me away. It's just one trunk in my bedroom."

"That's all I had too," commented Sirius quietly. "When I left home. I shoved everything into one trunk, shrunk it, and grabbed my broom. I never went back."

"I don't intend to."

"Why don't you ask James?" wondered Sirius after a short pause.

"As much as I am angry with my father, I don't want to see him get hurt and I'm afraid that James would hurt him for hurting me. I'm trusting you Sirius," said Lily gravely, impressing the significance of her faith in him by gazing directly into his stormy gray eyes.

"I'll be back in a little while," said Sirius. He kissed the side of Lily's forehead quickly and bounded out of the room with a dashing nod and quick wave.

Lily quickly occupied herself by reading the paper Sirius had discarded. Minutes later James came into the room, broomstick slung over one shoulder and Quaffle in hand, searching for his best mate.

"Have you seen Sirius?" asked James.

"Not for a while," answered Lily, her forehead wrinkled in thought. "But I'm glad you're here. I didn't get a chance to tell you about the prank war I declared on Sirius earlier this morning."

James grinned at the memory of why Lily didn't have the chance to tell him about the war. He placed his Quidditch gear on a table and joined Lily on the sofa. "This ought to be good."

"You sound as if you don't think I'll win," pouted Lily.

James openly guffawed. "Lily there is no way you're going to win! Sirius is a Marauder, a pranking expert. Pranking is all we did for six years!"

"But he wasn't personally tutored by Dumbledore," Lily pointed out. "And if you spent as much time in the library as I did you boys would know twice as many spells as you do."

"You may know the spells, but he's got the technique, the ideas, the practice."

"But I am clever; I lie, I cheat, and I play dirty."

"How dirty?" asked James roguishly, his eyebrows raised and interest piqued.

"Wouldn't you like to know," said Lily moodily as she swatted him away. "Too bad you're not on my team."

"I didn't know there were teams."

"Anything that doesn't result in death of permanent damage goes, starting tomorrow at 12:01. I was going to recruit you to help me, but now I just want to beat you."

"And who are you going to get to help you? Peter?" challenged James.

"Remus," Lily shot back. "He'll make an excellent accomplice."

"You know what, take Peter too. I can't make this battle any more unfair."

"You will eat your words," said Lily echoing her words from earlier that day as she made a mental note that she needed to brush up on her witty banter.

"You don't even know what you're getting yourself into- limitless pranking? I had no idea a genius could be so stupid!"

"Both you and Sirius have openly admitted that I am quite brilliant, yet you still insist that you will beat me."

"You are a genius in everything else; pranking is the one area that Sirius and I jointly claim."

"You are both so stupid you can't even lick your elbows," huffed Lily as she jumped from the couch and strode from the room defiantly.

"Can't even lick my elbow," laughed James after she had left. "Of course I can lick my elbow! Who can't lick their elbow?"

-----

Sirius had had no problem getting into Lily's house because he explained his story to the maid who answered the door. She hadn't really believed the story Clarice had fed them all the previous morning when they returned to work, so she was more than helpful in pointing him in the right direction. She also informed him that Clarice and Petunia had left early that morning and hadn't yet returned, so he only needed to be careful in avoiding the other two Evans.

Due to years of practice, Sirius had an extraordinary mind for remembering routes, maps, and locations. Therefore he easily reached Lily's room.

Once in her room he noted the trunk set out neatly next to the door. Before he shrunk it, he took a look around the room. It wasn't much different from the first time he saw it. He recalled being shocked when he sneaked in there one afternoon the previous summer. It was so ordinary, so sparse. The walls were a pale pink and decorated with only a few boring paintings of flowers, lilies of course. The white lilies that adorned the walls said it all; Lily wasn't a delicate white lily, she was a vibrant and expressive tiger lily. Her walls should have been covered with muggle bands and actors, photos of her friends and many trips around the world, and her sister's artwork.

Sirius then mused about his own bedroom in the House of Black. He had certainly left his mark there. He was sure that the door hadn't been opened since they discovered he was gone; it was likely that the effect had been much like sun shining on a vampire in an old muggle movie- "My eyes! They burn!".

Sirius felt a moment of remorse for Lily as he said the incantation and placed her trunk in his pocket. This room could easily belong to anyone else. The dresser, desk, bed, they were ordinary. He wanted to change something, wreck something, anything just so Lily wouldn't fade away from memory; she deserved to leave a piece of herself behind.

Then her words surfaced in his mind; she was trusting him to do the right thing. If she had wanted to wreck havoc in her bedroom she would have done it, or she would have sent James, he would have been sure to destroy half the house in revenge.

He was about to leave when a lilting voice broke his thoughts. "I knew she was going to send you," Daisy told him as she walked into the room without a sound.

"How did you know that?" asked Sirius.

"James is a hothead like Lily; he wouldn't be able to leave without throwing dungbombs everywhere."

"I'll have you know young Miss Evans, that I am just as hotheaded and familiar with dungbombs as James," said Sirius defensively.

"He's too emotionally involved," Daisy continued in her strange manner. She was just as intuitive and perceptive as Lily; she could see through the mask, the charades, and observe people as they really were. Then, just like her older sister, she didn't beat around the bush. Sirius had a feeling that reality was much different in the eyes of the two Evans sisters. "You have some distance and yet this hits home for you."

"I don't want to leave her room this way," stated Sirius.

"Wait just a minute," said Daisy as she swiftly exited the room.

She came back a few minutes later with her box of oil pastels.

"She'll leave her mark I promise," said Daisy as she began making sweeping motions on the wall with a vibrant orange.

Sirius watched as color was left in the wake of the young teenager's hand. Slowly the silhouette began to take shape and Sirius smiled as he saw that it was a tiger lily. Daisy worked feverishly with her reds, oranges, and yellows, and soon the huge mural was complete.

"You're good," was the only thing Sirius could come up with.

Daisy grinned and simply said, "Thanks."

The pair stood admiring Daisy's artwork for a minute, and then Daisy swept out of the room without warning. She returned a moment later with a large canvas in her hands.

"I've been working on this for weeks and I finally finished it yesterday. I want Lily to have it," she said slowly and emotionally.

As soon as Sirius caught sight of the portrait depicted on the canvas that was nearly the height and twice the width of its artist, Sirius knew why Daisy was on the verge of tears; the portrait was of her parents. Sirius recognized Mr. Evans easily, though he was much changed from the man Sirius had met the previous summer. He had a full head of blonde hair, and blue eyes that shone with hope, love, and joy. His face was relaxed and his wrinkles nearly nonexistent save for around his eyes, which crinkled to create a look of amusement.

The woman in his arms could only be Maggie Evans, the lost mother of Lily and her sisters. She was beautiful; her auburn hair was thick and curly and cascaded around her shoulders like a waterfall. Her face was remarkably similar to Lily's. They shared the same delicate ski slope nose, elegant arching eyebrows, and high cheekbones. Her eyes were a thing of beauty. Like those of her daughter, Maggie's irises were fathomless pools of emerald; they held smiles, tears, and scars and were only all the more lovely for the depth. Sirius also recognized the lips of Mrs. Evans as having been passed on to Lily. They were small and not too plump, but he knew how expressive they could be. In the portrait they were arranged in Lily's ecstatic grin, the somewhat rare but powerful smile that had the ability to light up rooms.

In her hands, which were covered by her husband's, Maggie carried a bouquet of flowers. There were seventeen violets, eleven petunias, six tiger lilies, and three daisies.

"One for every year old we were when our family was most happy," explained Daisy quietly as she watched Sirius's gaze settle on the flowers.

"I'll make sure she gets it," said Sirius. He shrunk it, conjured a box, and placed it safely in the box and then in his pocket. "Now I had better be going."

"Good-bye," said Daisy sadly. "Tell her I love her."

"She knows," Sirius assured her as he gave her a tight hug.

After Sirius had left Daisy was once again left alone with overwhelming loneliness and crushing depression.

Occupied by many thoughts, Sirius didn't take as much care as he should have on his exit from the house.

"You are Sirius, correct?" inquired Mr. Evans as the two met abruptly. "What are you doing in my house again?"

"Lily asked me to get her stuff," he muttered, unable to come up with a suitable lie.

A look of remorse flashed across Mr. Evans's features as the name of his daughter reached his ears. "Is she okay?"

"Safe and happy," Sirius assured him, purposely leaving out any other details.

"With James?"

"He's a good man," said Sirius, avoiding the question. "He will keep her safe and happy."

"Which is more than I could do," responded the despondent father. "Would you please sit down?" Mr. Evans asked, gesturing to the office from which he had just emerged. "I'd like to tell you something."

Curiosity got the better of him, so Sirius agreed and entered the study.

"I know that Lily isn't going to come back and I don't blame her. However I want her to know that I am truly sorry for everything," at this Mr. Evans shuddered and had to work to repress his tears. "I realize now that I messed up, but I'm trying to fix things as best as I can. Please let Lily know that Clarice and I are getting a divorce, that I'm giving up drinking, and that I'm selling this mansion and Daisy and I are moving back to the town where Lily grew up. So just let Lily know that I'm trying now; I listened and I'm trying to fix things for Daisy before I lose her too."

"Okay," said Sirius solemnly. "I'll tell her."

"And one more thing," said Mr. Evans as Sirius rose from his chair. "Tell her that I love her."

Sirius nodded and left Mr. Evans sniveling at his desk.

Moments later he was home. Sirius set course for Lily's bedroom, but was met by James before he could reach his destination.

"Hey Padfoot," James greeted him genially.

"Prongs," Sirius reciprocated.

"So I talked to Lily a little while ago about your little deal," said James with a grin.

"Which deal?" asked Sirius cautiously.

"There's more than one?" asked James, one eyebrow raised in confusion.

"Course not!" said Sirius, laughing to mask his uneasiness.

James looked at his best mate skeptically and asked, "What is going on?"

Because he was a tad overwhelmed by Mr. Evans's speech and unsure of how to deliver the news to Lily, Sirius confessed. "Lily asked me to get her stuff from her dad's house, and before you jump to any of your crazy conclusions she asked me because we all know that you would have wanted to hurt her dad for hurting her. I owe him for allowing me to stay there last summer, and I don't love her like you do, so she knew I wouldn't hurt him.

"Anyway, her dad told me that he's divorcing Clarice, moving back to her hometown, and quitting drinking. How do I tell her that?"

James surveyed Sirius for a minute and then said, "You don't."

"What?" asked Sirius in surprise. "This is good news. It's exactly what she wanted him to do."

"There's no guarantee that he'll do it, and when he doesn't she'll be devastated. She has closure now, don't ruin it for her." After these coolly spoken words James brushed past Sirius and headed toward his bedroom to get ready for the Gala.

**A/N. I was so thrilled by all of your reviews that I updated only a few hours after I got home from vacation! Thank you so much; you all really touched me!**

**Here are some questions for you:**

**Do you think that Mr. Evans has really turned over a new leaf?**

**Do you agree with James's decision not to tell Lily?**

**Do you think that James has a right to be jealous? Is Lily too flirty around Sirius?**

**What do you think about Daisy and her pictures?**

**I challenge you all to impress me again; you are doing well so far!**


	44. Blood and Water

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Harry Potter or Harry Potter related copyrights.**

**Results from last chapter's reviews:**

**Is Mr. Evans turning over a new leaf?**

**12 said yes12 said no**

**Should Lily know about her dad?**

**14 said yes9 said no**

One would think that Remus, Sirius, and Peter were champion catcallers and wolf whistlers from the symphony that erupted when Lily appeared at the top of the Potter staircase that evening at the start of the Gala. She rolled her eyes at their antics and proceeded down the stairs with a coy smile and blush that James would have found incredibly attractive had he been there.

"Where's James?" asked Lily as she joined her friends in the foyer. She looked around as if she expected him to jump out and surprise her.

"Haven't seen him yet," said Peter shrugging.

"We thought he was with you," supplied Sirius.

"You always think he's with me," retorted Lily.

"He usually is," Remus pointed out.

"Who usually is what?" asked James with a wide smile that didn't match his eyes as he quickly walked down the staircase. "You look lovely," he told his girlfriend and then quickly kissed her on the cheek.

"Thank you," said Lily as she scrutinized her boyfriend. His bowtie was sloppy, so she untied it and retied it for him. "Much better."

"Thanks," said James as he refused to meet Lily's eyes. "Let's go into the ballroom and get something to drink."

Within minutes other Hogwarts graduates and their parents began arriving and the Marauders and Lily were separated as they started to mingle and make small talk. Remus was unable to find James for nearly a half hour, but James wasn't able to avoid him forever.

"So what's going on?" asked Remus as he finally cornered James and handed him a glass of champagne.

James downed the alcohol in a very ungentlemanly fashion and handed the empty flute back to his friend. "No idea what you're talking about."

"So for no reason you won't look at Lily, and haven't spent any time with her?" asked Remus with that damned perceptive look and sarcastic tone of his.

"That pretty much sums it up," agreed James as he attempted to leave.

"Be straight with me here Prongs, what's going on?" said Remus seriously as he blocked James's path.

"For some crazy reason, my mother decided it would be a good idea to invite Lily's parents here. She did it months ago, but with these recent… issues. I think she was hoping for some sort of magical reconciliation," said James in a low tone as he ran his hand through his hair.

"And you're worried they'll show up?" continued Remus.

"Yes."

"They won't," stated Remus firmly. "Both of them hate magic and Clarice hates Lily. There's no way they'd come to a place that has both."

"Clarice needs Lily for her own selfish goals; she's not going to give her up so easily," said James darkly.

"Here's what we'll do," said Remus, as always the man with the plan. "We'll round up Padfoot and Wormtail and divide up the manor into patrols. If anyone sees Mr. or Mrs. Evans he'll just transfigure them into small rodents, capture them and release them into the woods."

James chuckled and then muttered, "Not funny Moony."

"Personally I think that it would be hilarious, but if you prefer we could simply tie them up and leave them in a closet until the party is over and Lily has gone to bed."

"This is serious Moony."

Remus laughed. "Lighten up James! They are going to show up and if they do we'll handle it. Besides, Lily's a big girl and she dealt with them for years. So stop being such a girl and enjoy the party; it is in your honor after all."

"You've had too much to drink," laughed James.

"Not so! I'm merely buzzed," announced Remus.

"What did you drink? The party only started thirty minutes ago."

"I did a couple of shots with Padfoot and had a glass of champagne or two…" Remus trailed off.

"I think you should stick to water for a while then mate," advised James as he surveyed his unusually exuberant mate.

"Probably," agreed Remus, who even in his semi-inebriated state, was a sensible person.

"Thanks for finding me Moony."

"Anytime Prongs anytime," promised Remus as he clapped James on the back. "Except right now because Laura is looking **hot** in that dress. See you later Prongs!"

James shook his head and continued mingling.

Approximately twenty minutes later, Mrs. Potter got everyone's attention.

"Thank you all for coming," she began. "Christopher and I would just like to take this opportunity to congratulate all of the graduates, and to announce that dinner is now being served. Would the parents and other honored guests please enter the Golden Hall through the doors to my left. New graduates, there is a special surprise awaiting you in the Southern Dining Hall. After dinner we will all reconvene here for dancing. Bon appetite!"

As always the Golden Hall, the locale for the famous Christmas Eve banquets, looked extraordinary; it was decked out in the four house colors harmoniously intertwined. However, it was the Southern Dining Hall, although a smaller and less grand room, that stole the show. Mrs. Potter and her team of house elves had arranged the room to look just as the Great Hall of Hogwarts.

The new graduates gasped as they entered the hall, startled by the accuracy of the décor. Why, even the staff table was there and it looked as if their professors were sitting at it! The teenagers were even more astonished when it turned out that it wasn't a mirage, but really their teachers!

"Welcome graduates!" called Dumbledore as he rose to greet the class of 1978. "It is wonderful to see you all again. I hope that you enjoy another last meal together."

Dumbledore clapped once and magically the tables were filled with sumptuous entrees and side dishes. All of the class's favorites were there: meatloaf, roasted turkey, chicken, and ham, tuna casserole, mashed potatoes, cornbread, a variety of vegetables, cranberry jelly, and several others.

Because there were only approximately ten students per house, and even less representing the Slytherins, the tables were relatively small and close together so that conversations among all of them, including the staff table, were common.

As expected, after the dinner foods were cleared from the tables, a vast assortment of delicious desserts appeared. No one thought they could eat another bite, but someone everyone found stomach space and dug in with enthusiasm.

All-in-all the dinner was marvelous and thoroughly enjoyed by all. The highlight was when James challenged the faculty to a Quidditch match.

After some heated whispering between the two of them, James and Sirius split up and began whispering with the other houses. Eventually the mischievous pair approached the staff table with beaming smiles.

"Professor Dumbledore, on behalf of my fellow former classmates, I would like to extend a challenge to you and your staff of a Quidditch game at 9:00 this evening," declared James in his usual charming way.

"I suppose I will have to deliberate with my teammates Captain Potter," replied Dumbledore with a smile.

Five minutes of furious whispering later, Dumbledore emerged from the huddle and announced, "We accept your challenge."

James sprang to his feet and said, "Excellent. We will see you on the pitch. Please give a team roster to Sirius by eight."

"My team, please meet me on the pitch at eight," and with that Captain Potter grabbed a cupcake and left to begin strategizing and ordering the house elves to complete all the necessary tasks in preparation for the game.

"Hey Moony, want to be the announcer?" asked Sirius.

"Sure," answered Remus.

"Great!" said Sirius boisterously as he scribbled something on a piece of parchment and then moved on to his next victim.

Soon everyone was finished with dessert, and the hall drained back into the Grand Ballroom. The adults soon followed and the band struck up a lovely waltz not five minutes after. James appeared at Lily's side just as the first few notes began to waft throughout the room.

Lily had to smile as she beheld her boyfriend; he was just so euphoric that bliss seemed to ooze from his every pore. There were only four things that could bring that spark to his eye, that spring to his step, that grin to his face: transfiguration successes, pranking triumphs, Lily, and Quidditch. Lily hoped it was only a combination of the last two.

As Lily placed her gloved hand in his she felt a surge of his happiness enter her heart. She could not imagine anywhere else she would want to be at that or any other moment. As James expertly twirled her around the dance floor, his steps changing to reflect each new song, the minutes just flew by. She didn't even hear the music; she was dancing to the rhythm of James's heartbeat.

For a half hour the duo dipped, twirled, spun, and sidestepped, but finally James suggested they sit one song out. Lily agreed and sat down at a nearby table while James went to fetch them some drinks. Then disaster struck; its name was Clarice.

At first no one noticed the entrance of the Clarice and Petunia. Although Clarice looked like an escaped lunatic because her hair was in complete disarray, and her make-up resembled the efforts of a three year old, she didn't immediately attract any attention. However, throwing a priceless vase onto the middle of the dance floor where it shattered with a crash loud enough to be heard over the music and small talk, certainly did the trick. In synchrony all heads snapped up and found the source of the disturbance. Once the band had halted and she also had their undivided attention Clarice began her performance.

"Whore!" she screamed as she pointed a spindly finger at a white faced Lily.

As Clarice crushed the vase shards under her pumps while striding purposefully across the dance floor toward her victim, Lily rose and went to meet her at the center.

"Skank! Slut! Wench!" Clarice decried as she began to circle Lily like a boa constrictor wrapping itself around its prey. Her voice was sharp and grating, and everyone winced as each syllable scraped across their ear drums. "Harlot! Liar! Tramp! Floozy! Tart! Trollop!"

As soon as the vase had hit the dance floor Mr. Potter, his auror instincts telling him to fear the worst, had found his wife's side. Once it was obvious that a death eater attack was not imminent he relaxed and curiously watched the scene. As James moved toward Lily acting as her night in shining armor, Christopher caught his sleeve and restrained him.

"She can handle this," Christopher assured him as he placed a firm shoulder on his son's shoulder.

"He's right," agreed Harry as he and Eileen joined the trio. "Let her face her fears."

Although it pained him and went against everything his gut was telling him, James listened to his elders and remained a spectator to Lily's hell.

As Clarice paused to take a ragged breath, her chest heaving, Lily calmly asked, "Anything else you would like to say, or are you just going to continue to spout expletives like a talking thesaurus?"

Enraged, Clarice let out a maddened yell that sounded somewhat like a gorilla that has found out its banana has been stolen. She stormed over to the edge of the dance floor where the Potter's were standing; she recognized James from drawings of Daisy's she had confiscated and logically concluded that the couple next to him were his parents.

"Did you know that your precious son has been dating this slut?" she literally spat at Christopher and Marilyn.

James tensed, but his dad's firm hand restraining him from saying anything.

"You already used that one!" called Lily lightly.

"I'm afraid you must be mistaken madam," said Christopher politely. "My son's girlfriend is a lovely young woman."

"She is a cheating whore!" insisted Clarice. "I personally witnessed her go out with several men while she was allegedly 'dating' your son!"

"That is a matter between the two of them, and obviously if there ever was such an issue they resolved it. My wife and I side with our son and trust his judgment."

Clarice spluttered for a moment, but then collected herself enough to make another go at embarrassing her step-daughter. "She is a bad influence on him!"

Half of the ballroom's occupants scoffed at this claim. Uptight Evans a bad influence on the king of mischief and pranking? Hardly.

"Excuse me? I would be willing to argue the opposite," asserted Marilyn. "Lily has only had a positive affect on the lives of not just James, but my entire family."

"Hm. I had expected better from your son, but now that I know that he regularly encourages girls to sneak out of their houses at night, and then snogs them half-naked in the woods- and not just under the awful influences of the nymphomaniac harlot over there- I have a much different opinion," cackled the crazed divorcee.

Both Lily and James blushed furiously but didn't comment. Harry glanced over at his nephew with his eyebrows raised in surprise and pride and wearing a quirky smile on his lips that James knew meant he was going to hear more about this later. Marilyn and Christopher were startled, but only briefly showed any sign that they were affected by the madwoman's words.

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but last I checked kissing is what teenaged couples do," stated Marilyn condescendingly. "And the exact details of their physical relationship are their own business."

"That tart is corrupting your son and you don't even care!" accused Clarice.

"Madam," said Christopher tiredly. "I think it's time that you left my house; I have grown tired of you insulting my family." As he said 'family' he met Lily's gaze and gave her a reassuring smile that meant she was included in the term.

Clarice screeched in frustration. She wanted to ruin Lily's life like Lily had ruined her comfortable life as Mrs. Evans. In a last desperate move, Clarice stalked back to where she had left Lily standing on the dance floor. She raised her hand as if to slap her across the face, but Lily grabbed her wrist before her palm made contact.

"No," said Lily in a frigid voice. "You may have tried to convince me that I'm a worthless piece of property that can be bought and sold, but you failed. I have meet far too many kind and loving people who have shown me that I am a person worth loving to believe your lies any longer." As she uttered these words, she meet the gaze of each person who had helped her realize her own self-worth: Sirius, Alice, Marlene, Remus, Peter, Dumbledore and her other teachers, the Potters… her gaze finally rested on James. "It's over Clarice; you lose."

Clarice wrenched her wrist free and shrieked again. Then she began power-walking off the dance floor. "Come Petunia!" she barked.

Throughout the whole ordeal Petunia had been standing awkwardly on the dance floor just inside of the circle of wizards that had formed around Clarice and Lily. The whole time she had been staring out into space, wishing she wasn't there, and wringing her hands nervously, deathly afraid that someone would touch her or cast a spell on her. As Clarice called her name, she snapped to attention and looked up at her ex-step-mother. Then she looked behind the crazy woman to see her baby sister, standing independent, victorious on the dance floor, her loved ones forming a wall of support behind her.

"You don't have to go with her Petunia," Lily called softly to her. "Move out. You are a strong and able woman. Make mum proud of you."

"Go to hell Clarice," said Petunia quietly but defiantly.

Clarice emitted her patented squeal of fury and ran from the ballroom as fast as her heels allowed her.

Lily sashayed over to her older sister and hugged her. The crowd ooohed appropriately. Mrs. Potter signaled the band and the music picked up where it left off. House elves swept the porcelain away and people filled in the gap on the dance floor; life resumed.

Lily led Petunia out of the house, keeping a supporting arm around the waist of her sobbing sister. No words were exchanged on the long walk; none were necessary.

"Good-bye Petunia," said Lily solemnly as they reached the gate to the Potter residence.

"How am I going to get home?" she wailed.

"It doesn't matter how; it only matters that you will," said Lily with a sad and wise smile.

"What-" Petunia was cut off abruptly because Lily have covertly pulled out her wand and stunned Petunia before she even realized what was happening. It was a struggle, but Lily managed to catch her sister and apparate with her before she hit the ground. She levitated her across the grounds, through the house and to her bed without seeing a single soul.

"Good-bye Petunia," she reiterated as she tucked her sister in.

Within a minute she was nothing more than a falcon-shaped silhouette against the moon. Once she was outside the anti-apparation wards she went home. She flew back to Potter Manor and rejoined the party.

As predicted, James, who had been on the lookout for the red-head's return, found her only moments later, glass of champagne in hand.

"I'm fine," she said as she sipping the champagne delicately.

"Of course you are," said James smiling but not really believing her.

"I know that you're expecting me to have some sort of breakdown or something, but it's not going to happen. Now go rally your troops Captain; it's nearly eight."

"You're sure?" he asked skeptically.

"Yes," she said and then kissed him on the cheek and gave him a little shove in the right direction.

"Ok. I'll see you at the game?"

"There's no place I would rather be," she assured him. "Good luck!"

"Don't need it," he declared in his usual pompous and self-assured manner.

With that he was gone, weaving in and out of dancers and small talkers, tapping his teammates on the shoulder and giving them whispered orders.

"Hello Lily," said Dumbledore serenely as he watched her watch James.

"Hello Albus," replied Lily as she turned to face him. Unlike her classmates, she easily fell into calling her old headmaster by his first name. "How are you?"

"I must confess, I'm a bit nervous about the upcoming match. I know that my chasers are solid, but it's been quite some time since Minerva last served as a Beater…" joked the wizened professor.

Lily laughed daintily. "It should be a good match I think."

"Yes, and a much needed source of laughter for many of the Ministry officials here. Things are much too dark these days."

"I know four men who fight the darkness every day," said Lily wistfully.

"They would say yes if I asked them to join," he told her matter-of-factly.

Lily looked at him with a look of terror. "Oh Albus you can't! They're still too young, too stupid! They'll get themselves killed with their eagerness."

"We need dedicated and talented members like them," stated Albus.

"Please, Albus, wait a year, just a year. They're too young!" Lily pleaded.

"And you aren't?"

"I'm different. Firstly I'll be away for the most part, working behind the scenes, unlike them who would insist to be in the heat of battle! And secondly you have been preparing me for this for years; taking a Defense Against the Dark Arts class doesn't. A year from now they'll be better, stronger, and hopefully more sensible."

"Lily," sighed Dumbledore. "We need them **now**."

"They'll be no good to you if they are killed two months after joining. It would be better if you waited a year and they were able to keep themselves alive for years," reasoned Lily.

"I'll consider it," agreed Albus at last. "Now I must strategize with my team. Excuse me."

Lily didn't miss the fact that her mentor's voice was not as carefree at the end of their conversation as it was at the start. Good. She had given him something to think about. Unfortunately she had also given herself a lot to think about. How was she supposed to keep her eye on those four boys, those somewhat innocent and totally unprepared boys who thought they were men, if she was thousands of kilometers away? How could she possibly help them to get ready for the Order and battle?

Lily's depressing thoughts were broken by the arrival of her two best mates.

"Lily darling you look smashing!" cried Marlene even more enthusiastically than usual.

Alice smiled tranquilly as she sipped her champagne. "She's had a bit too much to drink."

"I noticed," Lily laughed as Marlene launched her into her arms for an awkward hug. "Better keep her away from Remus; who knows what will happen!"

"So are you excited for the match?" asked Alice conversationally.

"Very," said Lily truthfully as she allowed thoughts of the match to take precedence in her mind. "I think we're probably going to win, but the Professors should give a good fight."

"Have you seen the roster yet? Sirius is being very protective of it. I didn't even get a peak!" pouted Alice.

"Even using your feminine wiles?" joked Lily.

"Yes!" whined Alice. "You have to teach me that sexy pout that gets men to do whatever you want."

"I'll show you!" Marlene perked up and pushed away from Lily. "It's like this!"

The face that Marlene made was by no means sexy and hardly a pout. Her eyes were crossed, her nose wrinkled, her eyebrows tensed, and her lips took on the look of a fish as she sucked in her cheeks.

"Yes that's it exactly Marly," Lily assured her with a laugh as she went back to supporting her tipsy friend.

"Come on Marly, how about we sit down for awhile," suggested Alice as she took Marlene off of Lily's hands. "We'll see you at the match."

Lily laughed and spun on her heel when she suddenly bumped into something solid.

"I'm so sorry!" said the man nervously as he watched Lily look at the spreading stain that resulted from him spilling his red wine all over her dress. "My fault! All my fault! So sorry!"

Lily shrugged. "It's all right; I never really liked this dress anyway."

"Are you sure?" stammered the man with the light brown hair and kind brown eyes.

"Quite sure," Lily assured him. "I'm Lily Evans."

"Frank Longbottom," he replied as he shook her outstretched hand.

"So what do you do Frank?" Lily politely inquired.

"I'm an Auror, well in training, third year in September, really excited about it, can't wait," he mumbled.

Lily smiled. She made him nervous. How cute! "Were you a Hufflepuff at Hogwarts? You seem vaguely familiar."

"Yes," he said proudly. "I was a Hufflepuff prefect for three years."

"Oh I remember now," said Lily as it all clicked. "You were a seventh year when I was a fifth year. I was a Gryffindor prefect that year!"

It all clicked for Frank too and he suddenly felt much more at ease. "You're that girl James Potter was in love with!"

Lily laughed. "I'm _so_ glad that that is how I'll be remembered by everyone older than me."

"Did you ever go out with him?" asked Frank curiously.

"No offense Frank, but do you live in a cave?"

"No, just the Auror barracks, which is pretty much the same thing," he joked. "Why?"

"I was pretty sure that the entire world knew that we were dating. I was here with him for the Christmas Eve Party."

"I was stuck in auror training. They work us to the bone!" He interrupted her groaning. "The first Potter party I ever missed in my entire life and it was the only interesting one?"

"And even if you missed that, I can't believe that you missed my step-mother rantng about how I've corrupted poor innocent James Potter with my slutty ways."

Frank guffawed. Lily decided that she really liked his laugh; it was blunt, honest, and uncontrolled. If Frank thought something was funny then hell, he was going to laugh and he didn't care what anyone else thought.

"Honestly, I think that woman is mental," continued Lily.

"I would have to agree," said Frank. "How is James anyway?"

"He's good. Really do you not get out much? I can't believe that you didn't hear he was going into the auror program in September. You men really need some gossiping training."

"I just got back from a term in abroad training, I may have missed a few things," he said smiling.

"Well he and my best friend Alice Green will be joining your crew of socially stunted trainees in September."

"I'll be sure to watch out for them," promised Frank.

"Will you make sure that James doesn't get into trouble? After all Sirius Black is also joining him."

"Ah. That I **have** heard of, quite controversial."

"I would trust him with my life," stated Lily firmly.

"If Dumbledore trusts him, so do I," insisted Frank.

"I know we only just met, but I would really appreciate it if I could ask you a favor…"

Frank caught on and said, "I'll do whatever I can for all three of your friends. I remember James and Sirius from Hogwarts, good blokes, and I always help a lady in need."

Lily beamed. "Thank you Frank."

"Don't mention it," he said dismissively. "Now if you'll excuse me I have to speak with my professor. When James decided to move the party outside to the Quidditch Pitch, he somewhat threw a wrench in our security plans."

"The more you're around James, the more you start to realize he throws wrenches in a lot of plans."

"I'll see you around Lily," said Frank as he waved and disappeared into the crowd.

Lily was relieved. She liked the former Hufflepuff and she knew he would keep his word and watch out for her friends.

Lily continued to smile and make small talk, but neither her heart nor her mind were in it. Her heart was on a Quidditch Pitch and her mind was watching him.

**A/N. You all managed to impress me once again! You're reviews are so long and well thought out that I am totally inspired to keep updating! Thank you all so much! Here are some questions for you!**

**How do you feel about the character of Frank? Any thoughts on his future in the story?**

**Any bets on the outcome of the Quidditch game?**

**What are your opinions on the conversation between Dumbledore and Lily? Which one do you agree with?**

**What do you think of the actions of Clarice and Petunia in this chapter? How do you feel about the Potters' response to the two women?**

**Do you think Lily really is okay, or is a breakdown in her near future?**

**Wow! That's a lot of questions; feel free to answer some, all or none of them!**


	45. I Never Kissed Marlene

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Harry Potter or Harry Potter related copyrights.**

**Song for this chapter- Chelsea by Stefy. **

"That was such an amazing pass James!"

"Yeah! I can't believe that you threw the Quaffle all the way across the pitch like that!"

"Really, you were just so cool!" gushed James's fan girls who had crowded him after the match.

"You even won! Well I'm not surprised, you win every match you play!"

"But really, scoring like twenty goals by yourself? That's incredible!"

"Thanks," beamed James as he messed up his windswept hair even more.

"I would have been so nervous playing against the teachers, but you looked totally cool!"

"Yeah, even when McGonagall hit those bludgers at you! Who knew she was such a good beater?"

"First girl ever to play Quidditch at Hogwarts actually," Sirius informed the group as he was drawn to fawning girls like moths are drawn to fire.

"Oh Sirius! You did such a great job at beating too!"

"Yeah, like when you hit Dumbledore with the bludger so that Mark could grab the snitch and win the game!"

"I do consider that one of the highlights of my life," joked Sirius.

"My favorite part was when James grabbed the Quaffle right out of Flitwick's hands!"

"You're so cool James! I love you James! I want to have your babies James!" mocked Lily in a tinny voice.

"Are those words of jealousy I hear?" asked Marlene as she and Alice joined Lily.

"Of course not," sniffed Lily.

"Lily," said Alice softly. "Those girls may have managed to capture five minutes of his attention but you have the other 525,595 minutes of the year."

"For crying out loud you live with the guy!" said Marlene boisterously.

"I'm not jealous," hissed Lily. "Jealousy implies that you wish you were like a person or had something that they have. I would never fawn over a guy like that; it's degrading and humiliating. So no I'm not jealous; I'm just embarrassed for them."

Neither of Lily's best friends looked convinced.

"You could if you wanted to, compliment him I mean," Alice told her as she glanced over at James and saw that he really did thrive on attention and praise.

"Yeah," agreed Marlene. "You don't always have to be the ego-deflator; sometimes you could be the ego-inflator."

"That was profound Marly, really," teased Lily.

"He did play really well and it wouldn't hurt to let him know that," advised Alice.

"I say that you go over there and let those sluts know who's boss!" announced Marlene.

Lily stared at the back of James's head for a long moment and then her passion seemed to leave her body. "No, I think I'll just go get some air and cool my head."

Before her friends could comment on this decision Lily had swept away, her step graceful and slow, a gentle smile on her face, and her head held high. She didn't seem distressed to those who didn't know her. James, however, knew her.

He didn't even have to turn his head to recognize her; he knew the sound of her steps. The other Marauders attributed this knowledge to the fact that he had spent the majority of his Hogwarts career haunting them and the rest anxiously straining to hear them. James knew better; he knew that she didn't walk like the carefree and optimistic first year she once was, and she also didn't walk like her second year self, burdened and overwhelmed. She had grown out of the timid and depressed walk of third and fourth years. She was no longer a frustrated and angry fifth year who stormed around the castle like a tornado. Her steps were not the calculated and sharp footfalls of sixth year. There was a lightness in her step now, yet she hadn't lost the distinct purpose and intent that made her steps reflect her independence from her troubled past; she was walking away from that past with each purposeful step.

James smiled to himself as he listened to her walk behind him and around the dance floor along the most circuitous route possible. He couldn't help but smirk as she finally came into his line of vision when she stepped outside onto the terrace. He politely excused himself and left Sirius with the fawning girls.

Lily's head was swirling; so much had happened all in one day. At the moment she was desperately trying to concentrate solely on her breathing. Her gloved palms were leaning heavily on the stone wall, her whole body arching downward to rest on that one solid thing, the one support she currently had. And then James came as she both dreaded and secretly hoped he would. She dreaded his presence because he made her see herself, all of herself; she couldn't hide when she was with him like she could when she was alone. Yet every fiber of her heart yearned to have him there; she ached to hear his voice, to feel just one touch.

James stood for a moment, silhouetted in the doorway against the light in the ballroom, and watched the love of his life. Her breathing was deep and ragged, but she wasn't crying. She wasn't standing straight, but she wasn't curled into a ball either. For a moment he wondered what he should do. Then he threw thinking out the window and decided to go with his gut instincts.

"Hey you," he whispered in her ear as he wrapped his arms around her delicate frame.

Lily sighed pleasantly. She no longer needed the wall to keep her upright; she had something much more stable now. As she melted into him, James held her tighter, forming something like a blanket around her.

"Want to talk about it?" he asked softly.

"No," she sighed.

"Are you sure?" he pushed.

"Yes," she replied stubbornly.

"Really sure?"

"You did a great job in the Quidditch game," remarked Lily.

"Thank you, but I am not so easily distracted."

"I bet I could distract you," Lily offered, though she didn't turn around.

"I think that fact is pretty well established. After all I didn't actually drop the Quaffle into Rick's hands because it was part of some sort of plan, really I had just caught sight of you and I forgot what I was doing," admitted James.

Lily smiled smugly.

"Now back to you. If you won't talk how about I start your sentences for you and you just fill in the blanks? Let's start with an easy one: right now I am feeling… your turn."

"Conflicted."

"I am feeling conflicted because…"

"I don't know how I should feel."

"The most traumatic thing that happened to me all day was when…"

"Either when you were nearly blasted off of your broom when Madame Pomfrey hit that bludger at you and you were only hanging on with one hand, or when you were chatting with those girls a few minutes ago."

"Jealousy sucks doesn't it?" stated James smarmily.

"I didn't say I was jealous," replied Lily stonily.

"I happen to be an expert at jealousy, so I will help you to identify it. Did it feel like there were boulders in your stomach and a vice around your heart? Was there a surge of anger through your veins that you couldn't explain? Did you hands curl into fists and or did you feel the need to physically hurt someone so that they would share in your suffering? That, my dearest love, is jealousy and I have felt it most days of the past seven years, recently because, even though you don't seem to notice them, far too many blokes like looking at you far too much," concluded James as he nuzzled her neck softly.

"I don't like jealousy much," admitted Lily.

"Neither do I, but when it hits usually I just remember that I get to be out here with you in my arms and they are stuck in there looking for something I have already found. And if they keep looking I content myself by making rude hand gestures at them behind your back," joked James.

Lily laughed.

"And now, back to you again. Here's another fill in the blank for you: tonight Clarice made me feel…"

"Free," answered Lily shortly. She didn't really appreciate James's mind games even though she knew they were for her own mental wellbeing.

"Free from what?" prompted James.

"Her reign of terror," said Lily seriously. Then she turned in his arms so that he could see the truth in her eyes when she talked to him. "Honestly James, I am fine. I am conflicted because I almost want to feel remorse that Clarice is no longer in my life. When my mother died I was completely and totally devastated. Clarice, in her role as a step-mother, was supposed to fill part of that void in my life. Even though she utterly failed to be a mother to me, I still feel as if I should feel some sort of loss, but instead all I feel is closure. That part of my life is now completely finished; I said good-bye to Daisy, wrote my father a letter and personally wrote him out of my life in that dramatic conversation, tonight I bid Petunia good-bye, and I am now finished with Clarice as well. I should feel sad, because really, I have lost my entire family in the matter of a week, but instead I'm completely fine, I promise. For the first time in a really long time I feel… whole; I feel whole," she repeated savoring the feeling of the words on her lips and in her heart.

"Okay," said James simply as he kissed the top of her head, which was nestled perfectly beneath his chin. "Okay."

"Are you happy now?"

"Are **you** happy now?" James shot back.

Lily contemplated this for a moment and then answered, "Yes."

"Then I am too."

After a long but comfortable silence during which the couple simply admired the stars, Lily requested, "Tell me a story."

"About what?"

"Something from your childhood, something happy."

James thought for a few moments until he had the perfect story. "How about a James and Marlene story?"

"Perfect," said Lily grinning.

"Marlene and I were four years old, her brothers ten and seven years old, and we were exploring in the woods behind my house. Of course we were all pretending to be fearless explorers who had set out to conquer the wilderness. At some point, Marlene's brothers decided to go off in one direction, to explore a cave I think, but Marlene was afraid of the dark, so she didn't want to go with them. Valiantly I agreed to go with her somewhere else even though our parents had told us to stay with the older boys. So we went off on our own, collecting bugs and leaves and rocks in our pockets as we went along, cheerfully singing and going deeper into the woods the whole time.

"Eventually we realized it was supper time because our stomachs were growling. Like I suppose spoiled four years do, once we decided that we wanted to be back home, we thought that it should instantly happen. Of course it didn't work out that way, but I couldn't seem like a sissy in front of a _girl_, so I told Marlene that I knew the way home; after all it was _my_ home turf. So we kept walking for a while longer and every so often I would look at a tree or rock in a peculiar way and then decisively say 'This way!' and march off in that direction.

"Once it started to get dark Marlene started to get scared, and when Marlene gets scared she gets mad. So she started yelling at me and of course I yelled back because that's what I do when girls yell at me." Lily smirked at this. "So then she threw a rock at me, missing of course, and stomped off. Now I was alone; darkness I could handle, but I have always hated being alone. Now I have to comment that hating something and being afraid of something are entirely different; I have never been, nor ever will be afraid of anything." Lily rolled her eyes at his clearly joking boast.

"So I just sat down on the nearest stump and started making friends with the nearby plants and animals so that I wouldn't feel so lonely. Soon however, all of the animals were going to sleep and plants are not much of companions so I decided to try and get home by myself. After trudging along for a while, making as much noise as possible I suddenly find myself on the ground with something on top of me. Of course I started yelling and my attacker starts screaming. I got it off of me and then realized that it was just Marlene. She had heard me rustling around in the bushes and thought I was some sort of beast that she was going to battle by launching a surprise attack. So she starts crying because she's so glad that I'm not a beast who will eat her and also I am me.

"But by now it is pitch black and Marlene and I can hardly see each other, never mind our way home. So we started holding hands so we wouldn't get separated. And it was rather ridiculous, but we started acting as if we were going to die. I suppose being lost in the dark woods does seem like a death sentence to a four year old. Anyway, we started telling each other things like, 'if you make it out and I don't, you can have my chocolate frog card collection,' or 'I wish I could've gone skydiving before I died.' It was just ridiculous stuff.

"Finally we decided that we couldn't walk another step, so we found the nearest comfortable tree and sat up against it. Since Marlene was scared, I hugged her tightly. That was when we promised that we would be best friends forever and would marry each other the day after Marlene turned seventeen. We would get married the next day so that Marlene could have two parties, one for her birthday and one for her wedding; she didn't like the idea of only having one party for two things.

"Eventually we fell asleep; we had nothing better to do because we had already named all fourteen of our children. Probably ten minutes later my parents and Mr. McKinnon found us. Merlin only knows why my mum had a camera with her, but she took a picture of us curled up together under that tree before our dads picked us up and carried us home."

"I had forgotten all about that," Marlene interrupted wistfully. "Although I remember a lot more tears and blubbering coming from you Mr. Potter. And I would just like to point out, that you never showed up at my house riding a white unicorn to carry me off into the sunset so we could get married the day after my seventeenth birthday."

"Unfortunately Marlene, this siren over here stole my heart and made me break my word!"

"I only forgive you because I never wanted to marry you anyway," sniffed Marlene. "I would never allow any one of my fourteen children to potentially get a mop of hair like yours."

James laughed and asked, "Do you remember why we were going to have so many kids?"

Marlene looked puzzled for a moment and then responded in the negative.

"It was so we could have two full Quidditch teams; you were going to comment and I was going to be the referee."

"What would the comments be?" asked Lily. "Potter passes to Potter who then tries to shoot but is blocked by an excellent move by Potter. Oh and there Potter goes for the snitch!"

"Oh no, their first names were far too original to not use them," joked Marlene. "I think the first four boys were named James junior, then there were some Marlenes, a couple of ones named after Quidditch stars, and some I named after plants or trees or something weird like that."

James chuckled. "If only I hadn't started hanging out with your brothers and pranking you all the time, who knows where we would be now? According to our old plan, we would probably be taking care of James junior the first," he joked, unaware of the effect this might have on his girlfriend.

Lily pasted a smile on her face and slipped out of James's embrace. "I have to talk to Remus about something; I'll see you guys later."

Both Marlene and James gave her a strange look but then went back to reminiscing. Soon a summoned bottle of brandy added to the fun of reliving old times.

After rehashing several of the numerous pranks James had pulled on Marlene during the years before and during Hogwarts, Marlene realized that the time had finally come; they were funny. Her mother had always told her that the day would come when she would laugh at what James Potter did and maybe even like him. Mrs. McKinnon had always hoped that Marlene would come to love James and marry him, and didn't keep that wish a secret from her only daughter.

"I never thought that all of this stuff would ever be funny!" gasped Marlene as she struggled to breathe while giggling so hard.

"Personally, I always thought it was funny," remarked James nonchalantly as he rested against the stone wall, his arms folded across his chest. His air was one of effortless ease.

"You know what else is funny?" laughed Marlene. "My mother- my mum always wanted me to marry you!"

James's eyes widened, "My dad too! After he was done yelling at me for pranking or teasing you, he always laughed and added these weird comments about how I was only doing it because I fancied you or how we would eventually end up together!"

"Why didn't we end up together?" asked Marlene as she looked deeply into the eyes of the person she had known her whole life.

"I don't know," James confessed. At that moment he honestly couldn't remember; Marlene was spunky, pretty, and a pureblood, everything he and his parents wanted for in a wife. The alcohol certainly didn't help with the thinking; it clouded the edges of his mind. He could sense that something important was alluding him, but the effort to chase it tired him and soon he abandoned the green orbs to focus on the girl- woman in front of him.

"We still could…"

"End up together?"

Things were getting hazy for both Marlene and James. Neither expected what happened next. In two quick strides James was in front of Marlene, who was sitting in a chair on the terrace. Swiftly he snaked one arm behind her back and the other cradled the back of her head. Before either knew what was happening they were kissing. Soon after that came snogging.

Dimly James heard a voice in the back of his mind, "_I never kissed Marlene_." He felt as if he knew the words, but he dismissed them quickly because they sent an unpleasant jolt through his gut and at that moment he only wanted to succumb to the primal instinct to satisfy the desire for pleasure.

If Fate had smiled upon either of the two teenagers one of their friends would have stumbled out onto the terrace and broken things up before they got too far. Even Lily entering the scene would have been a welcome disaster. Unfortunately the inebriated graduates were left to their own impaired judgments.

-----

The next morning James woke up to a blinding light and throbbing headache. Cursing the sun for existing, he kept his eyes shut and reached over to the side of his bed to grab another pillow so he could properly shield his face from the shining monstrosity that had the audacity to rise when James Potter had a hangover.

James's groping hand did not meet a pillow; his eyes, regardless of the light, snapped open when he felt something that definitely felt like flesh under his palm. He froze and began hyperventilating. He couldn't remember even getting to bed last night…

It was then that he realized he wasn't even in his own bed. As he took in his surroundings he recognized Lily's room. However, it was missing most of her personal possessions he had become accustomed to seeing over the past couple of days. In fact, he discovered as he sat up, none of her stuff appeared to be in the room, yet James was certain that that was where he was.

Then he looked over at his bedfellow and was shocked to see black hair where he expected red. Barely stifling a yell, James identified the form of Marlene McKinnon wearing nothing by a thin silk slip. Numbly he became conscious of the fact that he was only in his boxers.

What had he done with **Marlene** in **Lily's** room, and why was **Lily** and all of her stuff missing?! At this point James couldn't stop himself from yelling.

Naturally his shouts woke Marlene, who had an even worse hangover.

"Shut up you bloody- Potter?!" screeched Marlene in horror as she took stock of her surroundings.

"What's going on?" asked Sirius sleepily. A moment later he was wide awake. "Marlene?! Prongs?!" he asked, his mouth gaping. "What's going on?!"

"That's one I would love to hear," remarked Lily snippily as she appeared at Sirius's elbow, her face a mask of marble.

Neither James nor Marlene could do anything but mutter unintelligibly.

"That's what I thought," she snapped as Remus and Peter joined the group hovering in the doorway. "I just came here to tell you-"

"That you've been pranked!" yelled Lily, Remus, and Peter in synchrony.

"What?!" shouted James, Marlene and Sirius, also in harmony.

"That's one for Team Lily, zero for Team Sirius," said Lily as she chalked up the score in the air with her wand. Glowing letters spelled out the team names and underneath was one neat line for Lily and a big fat zero for Sirius. "Team Lily is now accepting offers of surrender; we promise to be merciful."

Recovering himself much faster than James, Sirius replied, "Never! Bring it on, because we certainly won't go easy on you!"

Not sparing another look at either James or Marlene, Lily left the doorway, calling out behind her, "You should have surrendered while you had the chance. You'll be sorry before the end."

A shudder spread through James.

"Would someone like to explain what is going on?" asked Marlene furiously as she strove to recover some of her dignity by bunching the quilt around herself.

"After the Gala was over, Lily and I went looking for you and James. We found the both of you curled up together and passed out with an empty bottle of brandy in your hand. It was after midnight, so the Prank War had already started. We brought you up here and arranged you like so," explained Remus coldly. "If I were you James, I would wash that lipstick off your face; I don't think that color suits you."

James and Marlene both blushed furiously. James tried to wipe off said lipstick with the back of his hand, as Marlene touched her lips in embarrassment.

Remus and Peter then left, both sporting looks of disgust. Sirius soon followed.

"Two questions," stated James as he fell back on the pillows. "What happened? And what do we do now?"

"I can't remember," cried Marlene. "And I have no idea!"

"I think I probably ought to talk to Lily," sighed James as he got out of bed and walked toward his own bedroom, for some proper clothes. That's when he noticed that both his and Marlene's clothes from the night before we strewn about the room quite obviously. _Team Lily was certainly a force to be reckoned with_, he admitted reluctantly. _But not nearly as frightening as Lily herself_. He shuddered.

He felt a pang of guilt as he heard Marlene begin sobbing into one of Lily's pillows, but he quickly shoved the feeling aside because he had bigger problems of his own and he didn't trust himself to speak to or touch Marlene at the moment.

-----

James had never been so nervous in his entire life; he had been in a great deal of taxing and frightening situations, but never had he had so much at stake. When Lily had been captured the previous November of course he had been terrified, and worried for her, but that was at the beginning of their relationship. It would have been difficult, but James could have eventually recovered if he had lost her then; he was much too heavily invested now to even think if losing her, especially to something stupid he had done.

He contemplated avoiding her, but for some reason that didn't seem much more appealing than facing her. One way or the other he needed to know what she was thinking. Did she really intend to move out, or was the removal of her stuff part of the prank?

These thoughts and others of a similar nature haunted James as he walked as one condemned through his house looking for the one person he most wanted to see and yet feared to face.

Eventually he found her sitting in the library. Why he hadn't looked there first was a mystery to him. He drank in her appearance like an alcoholic; her face was nearly expressionless as her eyes scanned the dog-eared and well-loved pages of her favorite novel. Although her face didn't betray her inner turmoil, her body language did; she was curled up in the chair with a soft blanket enveloping her even though it was June and such a comfort wasn't necessary. James also spied a cup of tea and box of tissues within arm's reach. This was going to be a difficult situation; James had hurt her and she had reacted predictably: the ice queen was in full possession of Lily now.

James shuffled into the room, making sure that he made enough noise so as not to sneak up on her, experience had taught him that such a maneuver would only cause him pain. Lily didn't look up, though pain flitted across her face. Yup, she knew he was there.

Lily still refused to acknowledge James's presence when he squatted down to her level right in front of her.

"Lily?" he prodded softly as he slowly reached to tuck a stray strand of hair behind her ear.

His fingers never made it to their destination because Lily, her eyes as bright and fiery as the killing curse, turned the full force of her glare upon him and froze him in his tracks. "Don't you dare touch me," she hissed.

"Look Lily, I'm really sorry about what happened; I don't even remember what happened! I was drunk; I didn't do whatever I did on purpose," he pleaded.

"You should know that blaming your actions on alcohol doesn't sit well with me," she replied stonily as she touched her healed cheek to remind him of her experiences with drunks.

James winced quite visibly. "I do know that," he tried to tell her. "I'm sorry for drinking too much too; I just got carried away!"

"I could tell that you got carried away," she sneered. "It was written all over your face!"

James fell back on his bum and put his face in his hands; tears were threatening to fall and James could barely keep them in check. He couldn't believe that he had caused Lily so much pain.

"Are you moving out?" he asked in a small and shaky voice.

"Where would I go?" she snarled.

Another wave of guilt crashed over James; maybe if she knew that her father was recreating his life she would have been gone by now.

"Are you breaking up with me?" he asked shakily.

"Hardly," she snorted. "That would be going much too easy on you."

Despite the frostiness in her tone, James couldn't help but feel relief. As long as she wasn't ending things with him he could fix their relationship.

"What can I do?" he asked her, finally making eye contact again.

Her anger had cooled a little, but her hardened features and harsh eyes still struck fear into James's heart.

"You'll have to figure that one out on your own. Now get our of my sight before I act on some ridiculous notion like snogging **your best mate** so that you can even feel a slice of what I'm feeling right now!" she barked.

James didn't need telling twice. As he walked down the corridor he heard the sound of a book hitting a wall followed by soft sobbing. That was twice he had left women who were important to him crying and he hadn't even had breakfast yet. James just hoped that his mother didn't make a third.

James didn't have the chance to make his mum cry; she wouldn't speak to him. When he joined the breakfast table, the only one who would even look at him was Peter, and even the look on Peter's face was far from friendly. Matters weren't helped much when Marlene, wearing Lily's clothes, appeared and took the seat to James's left. As the pair exchanged glances, the other occupants of the room watched them closely with hostility radiating off of them.

James hastily finished eating and escaped the house, unable to bear the disappointed looks and glares of his family and friends or to run into Lily again. Perhaps choosing the woods as his safe haven was a mistake, because Marlene followed him there, also seeking solace.

"Hey Marlene," said James dully as Marlene emerged from the woods into the small thicket.

"I would have thought you'd be flying," remarked Marlene as she sat on the ground across from James.

"I'm not sure I wouldn't crash on purpose," he said grimly. "Physical pain would be much better than this."

"We certainly screwed everything up," commented Marlene.

"No shit," spat James.

"Are you and Lily going to be okay?" asked Marlene nervously.

James removed his glasses and rubbed his face tiredly. "I really don't know, but as of right now she isn't leaving me."

"Well that's good," said Marlene hesitantly.

"Yeah, I just did a happy dance when I heard that one," he said sarcastically as he replaced his glasses. "I'm just _so_ excited that the love of my life isn't going to risk her life by leaving me and living somewhere else, a place where she could easily be attacked and killed."

"Oh stop feeling sorry for yourself!" snapped Marlene. "I feel terrible too! You're not the only one who loves her!"

"You're right; I'm sorry," he quietly apologized. "This must be awful for you too."

"James, what did we even do?" Marlene whispered fearfully. "I can't remember anything except that we were talking and Lily left and then we got some brandy."

"We were talking about how we should have been a couple, and then we were kissing," whispered James, ashamed to even have to say the words aloud, never mind at a normal volume.

"You kissed me!" accused Marlene shrilly. "I was just sitting there and then you came to me and kissed me!"

"You kissed me back!" yelled James refusing to shoulder the blame.

"But you kissed me first! It's your fault!"

"You could have stopped me!"

"You didn't have to kiss me in the first place!"

"You didn't have to kiss me back!"

"_**I**_ don't have a boyfriend; I wasn't doing anything wrong!"

"But you **knew** _I_ had a girlfriend, so you knew that you were helping me to cheat on someone!"

"I'm not the cheater! You are!" bellowed Marlene.

"It takes two to tango!" James yelled back with as much intensity and volume.

"I was smashed out of my mind!"

"So was I!"

"I think I liked it!"

"I- you what?!"

Marlene softened her tone and demeanor. "You're right: I did kiss you back! And I think I liked it!"

"What if I liked it too?" whispered James. "I can't start trying to patch things up with- with Lily if it's possible that there's something between us; it wouldn't be right."

"And how are we going to-" Marlene's skeptical and angry comment was cut off because she found that once again James's lips were pressed to hers. She had to admit that he was technically a great kisser; he knew just what to do, but there were no fireworks going off for her. She knew what kissing chemistry was like; kissing Sirius had always made her think that oxygen was overrated because she never wanted to take her lips off of his. She had felt fireworks, and this wasn't it.

James felt similarly. Although kissing Marlene was pleasant enough, it was nothing like kissing Lily. With Marlene he felt no desire to pursue the kiss to any more intense levels, whereas with Lily he couldn't get close enough to her, couldn't even be satisfied even if he snogged her for a year without stopping.

"There's nothing there," remarked James calmly.

"Thank Merlin," gushed Marlene.

"What now?"

"You mend things with Lily, and I'll go on holiday with my parents. Time heals all things. Hopefully when I get home in a couple of months, Lily and I will be able to patch things up too," said Marlene with a strange calm. "Now I had better get home before any other disasters can befall us."

"Bye Marlene," said James as he stood up and hugged his friend.

"Bye James," said Marlene softly.

After Marlene left, James stayed in the clearing just thinking. How was he ever going to fix this? He had messed up in the past, but he had always had support from someone to help him through it; this time he had no one, not even his own mother!

**A/N. Now I know that many of you wanted to read about the Quidditch game in detail, but unfortunately I'm absolute rubbish at writing Quidditch- hence why the game wasn't often mentioned and when it was, other things happened during the game. So I apologize, but this was the best I could do. **

**Now- some questions!**

**Did you like the fluffy moment between James and Lily on the terrace?**

**What do you think about the James/Marlene drama?**

**Do you think Lily is being too hard or soft on James?**

**What did you think of the beginning of the Prank War?**

**What should James do to win Lily back?**

**Review and you shall be rewarded! (I have the next three chapters written, I just need the incentive to post them :D)**


	46. Peace, Love, Victory

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Harry Potter or Harry Potter related copyrights.**

Lily grinned as she tightened the laces of her runners. She hadn't truly smiled in three days, no matter what James had done to try to win back her favor, but the feeling of her well-worn runners enveloping her foot in a tight hug was enough to reverse her sour mood. She stretched quickly, impatient to begin running, a move she would come to regret.

Lily's grin only deepened as her foot made contact with the solid earth. This was going to hurt; she was going to make sure of it. She would push her body to its absolute limits, to the very verge of collapse, because it was there, at the end of her abilities that she found the most peace. There was a quiet desperation that existed there, a need to reach the physical end of the run and the mental end of the problem.

As she ran various opinions and pieces of advice flitted through her mind. After getting over the initial shock, Sirius had predictably sided with James, and advised Lily to forgive him. Sirius had pointed out that no one is perfect; Remus concurred and added that Lily had made mistakes in their relationship as well, and James had always forgiven her. Peter agreed with his two friends.

Mrs. Potter, feeling very embarrassed and uncomfortable about the subject, had not approached the topic with Lily. Actually, she had barely approached _any_ subject with Lily in the past few days. In doing so, she seemed to advise avoidance of the problem until it simply went away. Her sister-in-law had advice that was much more Lily's style.

Eileen had personal experience in this area. Earlier that afternoon she had invited Lily to tea, an offer which she readily accepted.

After exchanging greetings and indulging in some mindless small talk, Eileen dove right into the heart of the conflict.

"A couple of months before I met Harry I was engaged to a man named Derek Smallwright," she began as she stared off into space. "I was blissfully and blindly in love with him. He was handsome, charming, suave, and very slick, all warning signs I had chosen to ignore. It was hard not to fall in love with him, all the village girls did; he just had this way of looking at you as if you were the only girl in the whole world, and some of the compliments that came out of his mouth… you would think it was poetry," she gushed.

Quickly returning to reality, Eileen continued, "Actually it probably was poetry; I wouldn't be surprised if he memorized those lines… Anyway, the point of my story is that two months before we were supposed to be married, I caught him cheating on me. It was then that I realized he had probably been cheating on me all along and probably would continue to do so after we were married because that was the kind of man he was. I immediately broke things off with him, and although it broke my heart to a certain degree, I never looked back. He begged, pleaded, and lied through his teeth, but it was too late because I had finally seen him as the snake he truly was."

Lily thought for a moment and then said, "So do you think that I shouldn't forgive James for what he did?"

Eileen smiled softly, "I think that you should think about the kind of person James is. If you think that he is the same type of man as Derek, a man who would never be faithful to you, then yes I don't think you should forgive James. If you are ever in a relationship with that kind of person get out as fast as you can; those relationships degrade you and make you constantly worry if he's with someone else."

"James isn't that kind of man," said Lily quietly but firmly.

"Then why not forgive him? He made a mistake, but he's only human. You're only punishing the both of you by not forgiving him. And you know that he would forgive you."

"He has forgiven me," admitted Lily softly.

These were the thoughts that occupied most of Lily's attention. As the kilometers added up behind her things became clearer. She realized that she had been acting ridiculously; deep down she knew that James had never meant to hurt her, but the pain that resulted from catching him with Marlene hadn't allowed her to think rationally. Running always restored rationality to Lily's thoughts because physical pain nearly always put emotional pain on the backburner.

By the time Lily came to peace with herself and her decision, it was dark and had just started to rain. Dumbledore had taught her well; she had her wand with her as she did at all times.

She didn't cast a water repelling charm because she liked the cleansing feel of the cold rain on her sweaty face, but she thought _Lumos_ and her wand tip immediately began emitting light. This light was faulty because she was still running and couldn't keep the wand steady. That explains how she missed the rotting log in her path. She stumbled and was unable to regain her balance before she crashed to the ground.

Lily groaned; she did a quick diagnostic stretch and discovered that while nothing was broken, she had landed awkwardly on her right ankle and it was severely sprained. She sighed; she probably had another three kilometers before she would arrive back at Potter Manor. She knew that she could run on the ankle, but she didn't want to risk doing more damage to the injured muscle. She probably could have healed or at least bandaged the ankle well, but she needed her wand for both light and the healing spell.

Lily laughed. She was wet, muddy, cold, sweaty, and in the middle of an unfamiliar set of woods with a sprained ankle. She ended her laugh, an outlet of a mixture of emotions, with a sigh, and changed into her animagus form.

It took a bit of effort to get off the ground without the ability to push herself off with her legs, but once she was airborne, she faired well. Although she was relatively inexperienced at flying, an unfamiliar set of instincts soon kicked in and she found herself deftly navigating the turbulent winds of the storm.

Within a few minutes Lily dove under the cover of the trees lining the edge of the manicured lawns of Potter Manor. She transformed back and began hobbling out of the forest. Her ankle hurt more than she would have thought, and the walk to the Manor was a greater distance than she had planned, but she couldn't take a risk that someone would see her animagus form and link it to her. One never knew when Mr. Potter might have his team of Aurors at the house, and Aurors were most dangerous for her, considering they would be the ones to escort her to Azkaban.

Finally Lily could see the house, but her muscles were so sore, from both flying and running as hard as she could for nearly an hour, that she just had to take a break. She slowly sank to the ground and sighed in relief. She extinguished the light from her wand, intent on conjuring crutches for herself. She had the same feeling that she did earlier, when she had first thought of the assistance: there is no way that they won't slip on the wet and muddy grass. However, she was now too desperate not to try; her ankle throbbed and had swollen already.

Before she conjured the crutches, she decided to try to remove her shoe; the tightly laced sneaker had felt good earlier, but now it was incredibly painful. It took her a minute, but the struggle and pain was worth it; the throbbing subsided somewhat. She lit her wand again to see what the swelling looked like, and was surprised to find she was not alone.

James was slowly walking toward her, but the rapid rise and fall of his chest told her that he had sprinted from the open door a few hundred meters away.

"Are you okay?" he shouted through the noisy storm.

"No," Lily answered immediately. "I sprained my ankle and I can't walk any more."

James didn't ask any more questions. Surely he bent down and picked up his girlfriend just as her arms reached out to him. James pulled her close to his chest, carrying her bridal style, and she smiled. It wasn't a grin of joy or triumph, just an easy smile that came from feeling as though one belongs. Both James and Lily knew that things were going to be okay for the two of them; all they needed were the words to be able to close the case and put it behind them.

Lily apologized for taking so long to forgive him. James apologized for hurting her. They kissed. Problem solved.

-----

After Lily's ankle and her relationship with James had healed, the Prank War was on again in earnest. Unfortunately Team Lily was down a member, Peter had to start work at the Ministry the first Monday of July. She would have been even more disabled if she hadn't been able to convince Remus to stay at the Manor. He was going to spend the summer looking for a job, but in return for his help, Lily promised that she would help him in his search. Remus grudgingly agreed; he knew that he needed a job, but he hadn't been looking forward to the search which would inevitably lead to rejection. Although he knew it would only be temporary, he welcomed anything that stalled the process.

Day 1

Lily looked in the mirror and discovered, with a shriek that brought a smile to the faces of James and Sirius, that she had green hair. A later check of her shampoo revealed magical dye. Remus found himself in a similar situation.

Sirius and James were disappointed to find that they two had been pranked in the night. Sirius's face was green, and James's was silver. Slytherin colors they noted with disgust and manly shouts.

Score:

Team Lily: 3(one from the prank on Marlene and James)

Team Sirius: 2

Day 4

Lily woke up to discover that all of her clothes, sans her lingerie, were gone. James's doing no doubt. She sighed and transfigured some of her underwear into real clothes. How childish. She rolled her eyes.

Remus woke up bald. He wasn't surprised.

Around lunchtime, Sirius and James discovered that they had horrible and extremely itchy rashes in the area covered by their boxers. Analysis showed high grade itching powder.

Score:

Team Lily: 9

Team Sirius: 7

Day 10

Lily awoke screaming. She had thought she had felt a light touch on her arm as she approached consciousness. She didn't think that her bed would be filled with spiders. Although Lily was as brave and smart as they come, dealing with spiders was not within her abilities. Luckily Remus heard her screams, and already having levitated the snakes that coated his floor out of his bedroom window, he rescued her. Lily, in a shaky voice, vowed to step up their game; like many people, when Lily was scared she became angry.

There was no surprise when Sirius and James woke up bald that morning; revenge had always been a specialty of Remus's. However, they hadn't anticipated that they wouldn't be able to charm their hair back like Remus had. They also hadn't anticipated that Team Lily would play more than one prank on them that morning. Both of their bathrooms were literally covered by flobberworms. It was hard to convince the usually dutiful house elves to deal with that mess.

Score:

Team Lily: 18

Team Sirius: 17

Day 15

Lily woke up carefully, checking her surroundings before opening her eyes. She didn't hear, smell, or feel anything out of the ordinary. She opened her eyes and looked at her reflection in the mirror on her nightstand; her face was normal. Next she checked her bedroom; everything was as it should be. Lily was worried, wondering when the prank would kick in. It finally did when Lily stepped into a shower of mud. It appeared to be water when she looked at it, but once she stepped in it became mud, complete with earthworms and clumps of grass.

"James Potter!" screeched Lily in frustration.

"Yes beloved?" smirked James as the furious and muddy redhead stomped into his bedroom wearing nothing but a towel.

"I'm using your shower," she said coolly, knowing that her anger would only fuel his fire.

"Okay," he said, still smirking. His grin widened when he heard her shouts when she discovered that it wasn't just her shower that was charmed.

"You charmed them all, didn't you?" she asked tiredly.

"Yup!" he replied smiling.

James and Sirius laughed as they watched Lily and Remus walk down to the lake in bathing suits. Little did they know that Lily and Remus were planning more pranks for the day while in that lake.

As James was strolling around a corner, incredibly proud of himself, he was suddenly struck by a charm. After a quick diagnostic check, he thought nothing was wrong, but when he opened his mouth to triumphantly gloat, he found that he had been struck mute. No matter how many counter-spells he tried, his situation hadn't changed. So it had been Lily who had charmed him.

Sirius was subjected to the same fate. They were infuriated when they told by Team Lily, that the spell would last for a whole week. That severely limited their magical capabilities.

The day didn't end there. Every food that James and Sirius ate tasted like their least favorite foods. Team Lily had struck them hard, but Team Sirius would strike back.

Score:

Team Lily: 28

Team Sirius: 30

Day 24

Butterflies were incredibly distracting, of this Remus and Lily were sure. They would know, over fifty butterflies had been fluttering around each head since they woke up that morning. The fact that they knew dungbombs were waiting for Sirius and James in the bedrooms didn't even cheer up the irked duo. They needed to come up with something bigger, and better and they needed to do it soon; they were behind.

"Did they really think they could beat us?" asked Sirius as he handed James a butterbeer from the silver tray the house elf had just brought in.

"If they did, they are stupider than we thought!" boasted James as he clinked his bottle with Sirius.

"We are the best pranksters that Hogwarts had ever seen! And now we get to use all of those ideas we ran out of time for at Hogwarts!" he crowed.

"We are brilliant!"

The two young men certainly were extremely talented, but they would certainly feel less brilliant once Lily and Remus had executed their next plan.

Score:

Team Lily: 49

Team Sirius: 51

Day 24

"Mate, I'm starting to think this war was a bad idea," said James solemnly.

Remus surveyed him carefully. "It always was a bad idea. But why do you think so?"

"Because I can't remember the last time I kissed Lily," he muttered dejectedly.

Remus laughed, "What did you expect? That you could prank her one minute and just expect her to fall into your arms the next? That sounds remarkably like the perspective of Fifth Year Prongs."

James thought on Remus's words for a few minutes. "I can't quit."

"You can't? Or you won't?" asked Remus astutely.

"I promised Padfoot that I would help him. He had a feeling that I'd have a hard time because we were against Lily, so he made me _promise_. I can't back out now," explained James.

"No I suppose you can't." If there was anything the young men understood it was loyalty, loyalty to one another first, before girls, other friends, or jobs.

-----

That afternoon James discovered that while Remus had distracted him, Lily had charmed all the furniture in his bedroom to be stuck to his ceiling. He imagined that Sirius's room had suffered similarly. When he went to commiserate with his friend, he had to stifle a laugh; Sirius's furniture was suspended from the ceiling, but so was Sirius! It appeared that Sirius had been taking a nap when Lily had arrived and she had dealt with the shift in plans well. James decided he would let his partner sleep for a while longer. Surely he would want revenge when he woke up and seeking revenge was very tiring.

James was also tired; nights were mostly spent putting plans into motion and daylight was spent in cautious surveillance and vigilance. He decided that a nap would do him good too, but since his bed was currently out of reach, he decided to borrow Lily's. He was only going to lay down for a few minutes, but exhaustion caught up with him, and minutes quickly spiraled into hours. He only awoke when he felt someone slid in next to him.

"Wha?" he asked groggily.

"Hush," Lily responded softly. "Go back to sleep."

Sirius would have had some harsh words about fraternizing with the enemy had he been there, but James couldn't care less at this moment. He drifted back off to sleep, his arm tight around his girl, and a smile on his face.

-----

The next morning James woke up alone, alone and also in the middle of the lake. Actually, as he noticed a moment before his sudden movement toppled him off of his raft, Sirius was stuck in the same boat… raft. James's surprised shout awoke Sirius, who also fell into the cold lake water when his startled movement upset his raft.

Both men surfaced and spluttered; neither had expected to wake up quite this way.

"Damn Lily," cursed Sirius just as James uttered, "Damn Moony."

The two men laughed and then began a race to the shore, where Team Lily had watched the whole scene victoriously.

"Enjoy your swim?" asked Remus, one eyebrow quirking as his two best friends emerged from the lake sopping wet.

"Not nearly as much as I'm going to enjoy this!" shouted Sirius as he ran to Remus with his arms throw wide to give his friend a very special hug.

Lily, slightly faster on the uptake than Remus, had started to run as soon as Sirius opened his mouth, but eventually James caught her, like he always did.

"By the way," remarked Sirius as he left to change into dry clothes. "Those hugs count as a prank for us."

Day 25

Score:

Team Lily: 73

Team Sirius: 80

Day 33

The Prank War was getting out of hand. There was little less than a month left and both sides were choosing to increase their efforts. Both teams were also stooping to basic tricks in order to rack up the points, especially Team Sirius because Team Lily was rapidly catching up, and although they wouldn't admit it, both soon-to-be Aurors were scared.

Remus sighed as he observed his environment. He and Lily had needed to plan, and they had been reduced to meeting in a dusty corner of the attic guarded by several charms Remus had never heard of. Was he the only one who thought this was going a bit far?

Sirius and James also took cares to protect themselves when they were plotting. They, however, had the advantage of having spent far many more hours at Potter Manor than their opponents. They weren't hiding in the attic; they had far more secret and comfortable locations in which to plot.

Fireworks, slime, dungbombs, and undergarments abounded in Potter Manor. Marilyn was at her wits end; even the house elves had joined in the skirmish (having been recruited by Remus and Lily to their side.) More than once she had been caught in the cross-fire; the teens had quickly agreed that pranking Marilyn resulted in the deduction of a point.

The only one who seemed unaffected by the war rocking his house was Christopher. He was rarely home these days, and when he was he seemed to be the only one with reflexes fast enough to protect himself. Every time that Marilyn approached him on the subject of stopping the war, he merely chuckled, but then in a serious voice informed her that the war in his house kept him in practice for the war outside, and he hoped it was preparing the children for what they would soon face.

Score:

Team Lily: 109

Team Sirius: 112

Day 48

With only two weeks left Sirius and James were on the offensive. They had their finale prepared, but hadn't anticipated needing it so soon. They couldn't ignore that Team Lily had finally edged Team Sirius out for the advantage, and so they decided to unleash their secret weapon, hoping that it would be enough to dishearten Team Lily to the point of distraction or surrender.

At dawn their plot erupted; Potter Manor literally shook as weeks of planning came to fruition. All the pranks that James and Sirius had played in the past forty-seven days were repeated, in addition to quite a few new ones. Team Sirius smirked as they watched the day and their best friends unravel.

Lily and Remus were miserable. They were half-bald (the other half of their heads was covered in hair that was constantly changed into obnoxious colors), and had skin that was itchy, scaly, and bright green with yellow stripes. They were also charmed to trip constantly, sing obnoxious show tunes every time they opened their mouths, and be relentlessly followed by all manners of bugs and animals on the ground and in the air. This all happened by lunchtime. Lily didn't even have time to comprehend all of the stuff that happened to her between eating a light and hasty meal and returning to her bedroom to find that it had been cleared of all her furniture. A single tear streaked down her cheek. She had been bruised, but not broken. After conjuring a blanket and mattress for herself, she settled into an uneasy sleep. The last thought she had before embracing sleep was that she wished she had never started the war in the first place.

The last thought Remus had before entering a similar state was that he was going to have to finish this war soon; it was driving them apart.

Score:

Team Lily: 203

Team Sirius: 409

Day 50

Remus and Lily had recovered and now were ready to launch their revenge. It wouldn't be flashy like the tactic of James and Sirius, but much more effective. It was more their style.

James and Sirius had slept like babies the night before. Day 49 had not brought a declaration of surrender, but it hadn't brought forth any pranks from Team Lily either. Team Sirius fully anticipated that an admission of defeat would be directed toward them that day. How wrong they were.

As morning dawned, Lily and Remus sat at the breakfast table, politely making conversation as they munched on delicious breakfast items. The angry shouts only served to brighten their morning.

"Where are our wands?" bellowed Sirius as he slid into the dining room. James would have been on his heels had Remus and Lily not bewitched the two so that they repelled each other. Team Sirius was forced to be apart at least ten feet at all times, and due to their wandless state, nothing could be done to rectify the situation.

"Don't worry," smirked Lily. "They're safe."

"Give them back!" shouted James from the hallway.

"Yeah," concurred Sirius. "You can't take away our wands!"

"Anything goes," uttered Lily, stressing each syllable.

"But how are we going to do anything?!"

"We are ready and willing to accept your immediate surrender," offered Remus calmly.

"We won't surrender," promised Sirius angrily.

"Have it your way," Lily replied loftily. "But don't say we didn't warn you."

"I imagine that everything that is going to happen to you today, and every day, until you surrender, will be much more difficult to cope with when you don't have a wand to reverse the effects," said Remus gravely, trying, and failing, to make his pigheaded friend see reason. "Just give up now."

"Never!"

Sirius Black ate his words, just as Lily had predicted, two days later.

Final Score:

Team Lily: 410

Team Sirius: 409

The minute Team Lily had surpassed them in points, James and Sirius surrendered. They had depleted all of their pranking objects that didn't require wands during their finale, and they had failed to regain their wands. Finally they had realized that it was futile and painful to resist any longer, and their pride wouldn't allow them to see the score become even more skewed.

Remus and Lily were merciful. They retrieved the wands from Uncle Harry's house and restored them to their owners immediately. They then reversed every charm on the two men. The war within Potter Manor had halted, but outside of the old and guarded walls, the real war still raged. Lily and Remus were soon going to feel the heat of that particular fire…

**A/N. So some questions! Thanks for reviewing everyone! I have the next two chapters written, just motivate me to edit and post them! :D**

**How did you feel about the prank war? About its outcome? Favorite prank?**

**How did you feel about the make-up between James and Lily? About Auntie Eileen's advice?**

**What do you think is going to happen to Remus and Lily in the next chapter?**


	47. Such is Life in the Middle of War

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Harry Potter or Harry Potter related copyrights.**

**Before you move onto the next chapter, I would just like to apologize for making the prank war so boring. I really did try to keep it short and entertaining (at first I was going to write an entry for each day! Aren't you glad I cut it short?), but I can understand how it could get tedious. However, I would like to point out that the Prank War did make almost the whole summer pass by in one chapter; my beta and I agree that that is certainly a record for me since I can and have dragged one weekend out into three or four chapters. So now we are on to bigger and better things! **

**Enjoy the drama that is just a few lines away!**

"I can't believe that you did that," spoke Remus, who was still in shock.

Lily smiled smugly. "I can be pretty persuasive."

"But- but, you got me the job…"

"As well as a few days off a month to visit your sick grandmother in Germany," added Lily.

"It's even the job I wanted…" he trailed off and then turned to Lily beaming. "You are my favorite person ever!"

Lily laughed as he hugged her tightly in the middle of Diagon Alley. Annoyed witches and wizards circumnavigated the pair grumbling about kids these days.

"It's the least I could do after you helped me to win the prank war," Lily told him as they continued down the street, Remus's arm around her shoulders in a friendly gesture.

"I will always remember the look on their faces when they had to surrender," mused Remus fondly.

"It was good for them," said Lily.

"Just imagine what we could have done if James hadn't been a jerk to you the first day of first year- we could have all been friends and terrorized the school!"

Lily laughed lightly. "I don't think the teachers could have handled that; the four of you were a big enough problem."

"You and James constantly shouting at each other was a bit of a handful too," Remus reminded her.

"True," Lily conceded.

"Come on, let's get some ice cream on me," announced Remus grandly. "It's a celebration!"

Unfortunately Lily and Remus didn't make it to Florean's; halfway there they were interrupted by the arrival of a dozen cloaked figures. For a moment all the teen pair could do was stare as the intimidating line of black approached them, beams of light and screams preceding them. Then Remus suddenly came to his senses and grabbed Lily's hand.

"Run!" he shouted to her.

She stared at the Death Eaters for another second, but then responded to the tug on her hand and followed Remus.

"We have to hide!" gasped Remus. "Anti-apparition wards are already up!"

"Where should we go?" asked Lily, her eyes wide with fear.

Remus cast his gaze widely around and finally pulled Lily toward Flourish and Blott's, his new place of employment. "This way!"

Lily and Remus were not the only ones who were seeking safety; everyone was terrified by the screams and destruction that already filled Diagon Alley. And because it was a Saturday at the end of the summer, the shopping center was filled with over a hundred Hogwarts students and their families. Therefore, it was extremely difficult to make it into any store, even one as big as the bookstore. After shoving and elbowing as much as the next person, Lily and Remus entered the store and took cover behind a bookcase in the middle of the store.

"We can't just sit here and wait to be killed," muttered Lily as she struggled to get her heartbeat and breathing under control.

"You know who's going to be killed? Me! Because when we get back to James's he is going to kill me for getting you caught in the middle of a Death Eater attack!" shouted Remus.

"Let's concentrate on getting back before we think of that," said Lily rationally, already strategizing. "Can't apparate… trying to floo is probably just like standing in a line to be killed… have the aurors been contacted? There are only twelve Death Eaters… or there _were_ only twelve two minutes ago… the second floor of the store would be a good sniping spot…"

Suddenly Lily stood up and pulled Remus up with her, "Come on!" she said excitedly. "We're going to help!"

Lily shoved her way up the narrow staircase and cut through the crowd so that she was up against the glass window that took up most of the front wall of the bookstore's second floor. Many times Lily had sat in an armchair in front of that window just reading… today was not such a peaceful day.

Quietly Lily carved out a piece of the glass so that she and Remus would have enough of a range to shoot spells at the unsuspecting criminals below. At first both recent graduates missed their targets by several inches each time, but after about fifteen tries they began to hit. Several Death Eaters went down, but others had arrived from Knockturn Alley and were not yet distracted by the torture of innocent shoppers. They saw the two Gryffindors in the window, and smiling cruelly, two of them summoned the teens.

Remus and Lily smashed through the rest of the glass and found themselves at the feet of two very cruel people.

"Oh look," cooed a female voice. "It's one of ickle Sirius's friends and the Mudblood Head Girl. They were trying to be heroes, how… disgusting."

The female, who Remus identified easily as Bellatrix Lestrange, Sirius's demented cousin who had been a sixth year during their first, nodded to her companion and together they turned on their prey.

Lily and Remus screamed in unison. Lily was put under a full body bind and then raised into the air, only to swiftly come down a moment later. Bellatrix favored a more traditional approach, so Remus was subjected to the Cruciatus Curse.

Lily and Remus were in agony until finally the aurors rushed into the alley, streaming through the arch behind the Leaky Cauldron. Luckily for the pair, their tormentors had their backs to the approaching saviors and didn't bother to flee with their new Gryffindor punching bags.

Lily was never so relived to see Christopher Potter in her entire life. He stunned the man who had been cursing her, and the pain stopped. Unfortunately, by the time he turned to Bellatrix, the retreat signal had been sent into the sky and the anti-apparition wards went down. Bellatrix got away.

"Get these two to Mungo's!" Potter shouted to his team as he continued on, hoping to catch more Death Eaters before they all escaped.

Lily looked around for Remus, but her movement was limited and she couldn't find him. She began to feel cold, but managed to remain conscious. But then a rushing civilian stepped on her right hand with a heavy boot, shattering it. She felt the surge of pain for a moment, but then self-preservation took charge and she blacked out.

Not far away Remus was already passed out. He had a feeling that Bellatrix took her frustration on her traitorous cousin out on his best friend. Or that's what he gathered when she was yelling such things at him.

Luckily for the two friends, they were saved from being squashed by the terrified stampede of pedestrians by a couple of aurors. Soon they joined almost eighty victims at St. Mungo's. They were among the more seriously injured; most Death Eaters had concentrated on causing as much destruction as possible, so they blew up buildings and cast curses randomly into crowds. Few were as sadistic as Bellatrix and her husband who liked to pick just a few victims and break them.

By the time Lily and Remus woke up almost eleven hours after the attack, the hospital had been mostly cleared of those injured in the attack.

The first thing Lily was aware of was a hand in hers. Within even opening her eyes she knew who the hand belonged to; she smiled softly. When she did open her eyes she was surprised to see that James wasn't the only one keeping watch over her. Mrs. Potter was in an armchair to her right calmly completing a crossword puzzle, and Alice was curled up and sleeping at the end of her bed.

Lily lightly squeezed James's hand, alerting him that she was awake. He quickly snapped out of his thoughts and smiled at her, relief evident in his eyes.

"Hello love," he said quietly.

Lily just smiled back. Her throat was raw from screaming and since just breathing was painful, she decided to speak as little as possible.

James's words caught his mother's attention immediately. Abandoning her puzzle, she quickly snapped into mom mode and began to fret. "Oh Lily dear, you're awake! Are you in any pain? Do you have enough pillows? Do you want some water? Do you need an extra blanket?"

"I'm fine," said Lily in a hoarse and raspy whisper.

Marilyn halted her rapid questions and just smiled softly. "I'll just get the healer for you then."

"How's Remus?" Lily asked James once Mrs. Potter had left.

"He's seen better days," James admitted carefully. "He woke up about an hour ago. Peter and Sirius are with him now; they're having a good time because he's all drugged up on painkillers and saying some very interesting things.

"Speaking of painkillers, the healers will probably bring some for you in a minute, once the aurors get your story anyway. I don't know why they need it, you and Remus were together and they already have his story…"

Christopher interrupted his son. "Because every point of view is different and we need all of the angles we can get. Even the smallest details can help us to make Diagon Alley, and all of Britain, a safer place. Now James, I'm afraid that you and Alice must leave Lily's bedside so that I can question her."

James picked up the petite form of Alice easily and carried her out.

Christopher drew the currents around Lily's bed and cast a silencing charm so that the other patients wouldn't overhear anything.

Mr. Potter handed Lily a small vial filled with a honey-colored liquid. "Now I know that your throat probably hurts, and I can't give you anything but this mild soothing potion, but I would appreciate it if you would answer all of my questions in as much detail as possible." The auror tapped his quill and parchment with his wand and the two floated into the air, ready to go.

"August 24, 1978, 3:09 a.m., St. Mungo's Hospital Room fourth floor, Potter ward," Christopher dictated professionally. "Please state your full name."

"Lillian Marissa Evans," said Lily quietly. To her relief it was loud enough for the quill to record.

"What were you doing at Diagon Alley yesterday?"

"Helping a friend get a job. We were going to get ice cream to celebrate when the Death Eaters arrived."

"How many Death Eaters do you think there were?"

"Twelve at first, but more came within minutes and I lost count."

"Where did they come from?"

"Knockturn Alley."

"What did you do when they arrived?"

"Hid in Flourish and Blott's and then tried to attack a few from the second floor."

Mr. Potter didn't look surprised; he had already heard this story from Remus. "Did you hit anyone?"

"A few, but the only spell I could think of was _Stupefy_ and I doubt they were stunned for long."

"Every little bit counts," Mr. Potter assured her. "You never know, you might have saved a life today by just doing one small act. How did you end up in the hands of a Death Eater?"

"They saw us and summoned us."

"And then?" prompted Mr. Potter.

"Tortured us," said Lily dully.

"I won't ask you to describe it, but I do need to know if Unforgiveables were used."

"Yes."

"Cruciatus?" he guessed.

"Yes."

"Do you have any idea as to who your attackers were? Did they drop any names at all?"

Lily thought for a moment. "One of them recognized me… and Remus. It was a woman and she knew Sirius Black. I don't remember her name, but I think she may have been at Hogwarts with me, maybe four or five years older."

"And the other?"

"He didn't say much, let the woman do all the talking. But you should know who he is. Didn't you capture him?"

Auror Potter sadly said, "No, after he was stunned, one of his comrades grabbed him and apparated away before we could get him. I'm sorry."

Lily just nodded, too disappointed to say anything.

"Just one last question: do you have any suggestions to make Diagon Alley safer?"

Lily thought for a few minutes while Mr. Potter waited patiently. He knew that her answer would be worth the wait.

"Establish escape routes. Posting them wouldn't do any good because Death Eaters would use it to their advantage, but put trustworthy shopkeepers in charge of directing everyone. I would also post aurors around to help with the evacuation. Also create a few massive connections to the Floo network; that would allow families to stay together and hopefully keep things moving so that people wouldn't be easy targets while they're trying to escape.

"Also, I believe that the anti-apparition wards were controlled by one person because they went up and down so quickly. That means two things, if you find and take out that person the wards will go down, and the wards can't be very strong. Probably strong enough to keep people from apparating, but it's likely that if anyone who was trained to break spells could keep their wits about them in an attack they could break the wards.

"And finally I would suggest giving the general public a refresher course in Defense Against the Dark Arts. People don't need to know how to attack an opponent; if they could simply defend themselves until help arrived, I think there would be far fewer injuries and deaths."

Christopher grinned. He had interviewed twenty people after the attack, but was disappointed every time he had asked his last question. Most people told him that they were simply going to avoid Diagon Alley all together and just do their shopping by owl. The rest had ridiculous suggestions like conducting background checks before each person was allowed into Diagon Alley or having an auror escort each family around the shopping center; like the aurors didn't have enough to do! Only Lily had come up with logical and probably effective ideas. He was growing to like her more and more each day.

"That should be all Miss Evans, thank you for your time," he concluded. He tapped the parchment again and it rolled itself up and joined several other scrolls in his briefcase; the quill followed.

"So how are you feeling Lily?" he asked; the auror attitude and tone had been replaced by a more compassionate and fatherly approach.

"Awful," she replied honestly.

"I'll let the healers know they can give you the rest of your potions now. I'm sorry that you had to wait, but our policy is to interrogate people before their perceptions are altered by any medications."

"S'ok," she mumbled, even though it really wasn't. She was only barely holding herself together. Every muscle hurt and several were throbbing. She was fairly certain that a fair amount of bones had been broken and a few ribs bruised. Lily didn't even want to think about her right hand; it was wrapped tightly with gauze, but still swollen to twice its normal size.

"Here," Mr. Potter said kindly as he pulled two chocolate bars out of a pocket of his robes. "Take these and eat them to wash down the taste of your potions. I've had probably all of them over the years and I will not lie to you- they are all foul. Luckily chocolate doesn't alter any potion known to wizardkind."

"Thanks."

"My pleasure. Now I'm going to go fetch the healer and I'll send James and Alice back in. I'm glad to see you're on the mend Lily," he said, departing with a smile.

Marilyn, Alice, Sirius, James, and Peter stayed as long as they were allowed, but even the Potter influence couldn't allow them to stay more than an hour after their friends were out of critical care. The Potter influence did provide for them to be placed in the same room when they were transferred to the intermediate ward though.

After their friends had left, Lily and Remus kept each other entertained. "I Spy" quickly became boring because nearly everything was white, but they kept up a game of "Would you Rather" for hours. The questions they asked each other ranged from the ridiculous ("Would you rather eat a blast-ended skrewt or the Giant Squid?") to the practical, ("Would you rather be in the hospital right now or be a coward who didn't fight at all?") and everything in between ("Would you rather eat a bucket filled with butter or sugar?").

The whole situation just reinforced a fact that Lily and Remus knew already, nothing was as bad when your friends were beside you.

-----

After Lily and Remus were released from the hospital the next morning, fully healed, though still a little sore, James didn't let Lily out of his sight for more than a few minutes. The reason was two-fold: he was panicking after she had been attacked at Diagon Alley and afraid that she wouldn't be safe without him, and he knew that he was going to have to leave her to go to Auror training in less than a week and she would be leaving for her school two weeks later.

Many moments the couple spent with Sirius, but more often than not, they left him alone. Bored, he often bothered either Remus or Peter at their jobs or moped around the house.

Many afternoons were spent lazily on a blanket by the lake, both Lily and James content to cuddle and watch the clouds go by. At night they frequented both wizarding and muggle restaurants throughout England. The couple also squeezed concerts, and Quidditch games into their busy schedule. The whirlwind week ended with frenzied packing the night of September 1, the day before the start of the year at the Auror Academy.

As the minutes ticked by James grew more and more frantic. He felt as if he was wasting his time spending it with his clothes and possessions; unlike Lily he would be seeing them everyday. Soon he decided that he didn't care what was packed. He called a House Elf, thrust the list of necessary supplies that the Academy had sent him at her and told her to pack whatever.

Relieved James shot out of his room and jogged throughout the mansion looking for Lily. Her laughter revealed her location soon enough. He spent a moment in the doorway staring at the scene in front of him in awe.

Sirius, Lily, and his parents were sitting around a small table and playing a muggle card game. He had never seen his parents play any sort of game before, never mind a muggle game!

Lily was nearly glowing with excitement; Christopher looked more relaxed than he had in years, and Marilyn had a smile that would have made the Cheshire Cat jealous. James couldn't see Sirius's face, but he had a feeling that Sirius mirrored his companion's smiles.

Lily was the first one to notice James; she smiled even wider and called him over. "Pull up a chair and you can play in the next round!"

James grinned roguishly when he, instead of grabbing a new chair, lifted Lily out of hers, sat on it and placed her on his lap.

"Not _my_ chair you prat!" she scolded him lightly.

"I like _this_ chair," he said shrugging.

"Looks like the best seat in the house to me," Sirius agreed grinning at his best friends.

"Can we get on with this game now?" asked Christopher annoyed at the interruption. He raised his eyebrow at his son, but was smiling, so James didn't feel the need to move.

"It's your turn Sirius," Marilyn prompted.

"What are you playing?" James asked curiously.

"It's called Pitch," Lily said as she quickly explained the rules to James. "You can play in the next round."

"When's that?"

"Well your dad and I are about to win, so I'd say in a minute or two," boasted Lily.

"You are not going to win!" protested Sirius. "Mrs. Potter and I will come from behind and be victorious!"

"Sorry Sirius," apologized Mrs. Potter as she played her last card. "I have nothing useful."

"Yes!" shouted Mr. Potter as he pumped his fist. He leaned over the table and high-fived Lily. "We won!"

"I demand a rematch!" Sirius called.

Lily looked at James and he replied, "You guys play; I don't mind watching, especially if Sirius is getting beaten!"

"I am not! Mrs. Potter and I let them win that time; it won't happen again!"

"That's right Sirius; we'll get them this time!" predicted Mrs. Potter.

Unfortunately Mrs. Potter was not correct. They played Pitch for hours, but Lily and Mr. Potter succeeded in beating them every time.

"Are you sure this deck isn't cursed?" asked Sirius for the thousandth time as he was once again dealt what he viewed as a terrible hand.

"You've checked it nine times already," said Lily tiredly.

"Then why aren't I winning?" he whined.

"Mr. Potter and I are just unstoppable," stated Lily matter-of-factly.

"I was thinking we should make this into a profession," remarked Mr. Potter jokingly. "Muggles do that, don't they?"

"They do. We could travel the world playing in tournaments. We would be famous and rich," Lily said.

"Money, popularity, and ability to travel," mused Christopher. "Sounds ideal! I say we depart in the morning!"

"I say we should join the circus while we're at it!" declared Lily.

"Perfect! Circus people by day, and famous gamblers at night!"

Everyone laughed at the out-of-character antics of Christopher Potter. However, the laughter was cut short by the arrival of the Head Auror's head in the fireplace.

"Potter!" the man bellowed. "We need you and your team now, and put Moody and his team on high alert! The Academy is being attacked!"

Christopher's face quickly became the cool and focused visage of an experienced auror. "We'll be there in three minutes sir," he promised.

"Meet in front of the school's main gates," said the Auror before he disappeared from the fireplace to alert another division.

Christopher set out at a run. Within a minute he had changed into his auror robes, alerted Moody by floo, and sent out the warning signal to his team.

"Bye," he said quickly as he kissed Marilyn on the cheek and then jumped into the floo to begin gathering his team.

"I think I'll head to bed," said Marilyn tiredly, breaking the silence that was left in Christopher's wake.

After his mother had left, James turned to Sirius and said, "Shouldn't we go help? They're defending our school."

"No!" exclaimed Lily sharply. She swiveled so that she was looking James right in the eye. "If they needed you they would have asked, and besides that they are calling up teams, teams that know how to work together and know what they're doing. You would just be in their way."

"They probably need all the help they can get," protested James.

"No they don't," Lily argued back. "Auror Scrimgeour didn't even need Auror Moody's team, so I don't think he needs you two."

"But we want to help."

"You can help by staying here and staying alive until you can be trained so that you are helpful," Lily shot back.

"But Lily-"

"No," she cut him off. "Neither of you are leaving my sight."

"Ok," James relented. "We won't go, right Sirius?"

"Right," said Sirius coolly, though Lily could tell he was seething just under the surface. "I think I'll head to bed too; I want to get plenty of rest before my first day of training- provided that there still is a place to train."

James and Lily mumbled a good night. After Sirius's departure, Lily relaxed and sank into James's embrace.

"I don't want you to be an auror," murmured Lily. "I don't like thinking of you being in danger all the time."

James didn't know what to say, so he just held Lily tighter.

"I know you have to do it though, and I've mostly accepted the idea," Lily continued. "But it's times like these that make it seem real, and it scares me."

"I don't want you to go away," said James sharply. It was the first time he had openly admitted that fact. He had been hinting at it for days, still believing that maybe he could convince Lily to stay if he pointed out enough good things about England and her life there. If he made it unbearable for her to leave, she would stay, was his logic.

"I know," Lily sighed,

"You don't have to go. You could go to the School of Healing here in England, or even the Auror Academy if you really wanted. Or really, you don't have to go to school at all. Just stay here with my mum and start some of those charitable organizations that you've always wanted to run. Someday I will marry you Lily Evans, and so you don't need a job or money. I promise you that you will never need to support yourself."

Lily smiled sadly at James. He so desperately wanted her to stay, and she so desperately wanted to go. "That's not me," she told him quietly. "You can't bear to stay home and do nothing and neither can I. I need to go; there my skills can be tested and sharpened. Nowhere else would someone like me be challenged. And I need a change of scenery; I need to get away so that I can figure out who I am."

James was confused. "How can you not know who you are?"

Lily sighed. "Sometimes I'm not sure what it is that I'm supposed to be doing, where I fit in. I need to go away so that I can get some distance. I'll be around people who don't know me, have no preconceived notions of how I'm supposed to behave. I've been playing roles for years; I was one Lily around my family, another Lily at school, and a different Lily among my friends. I need to figure out which Lily I am, or even take pieces from each Lily to form one whole person. I need this James, but I need you too. Please tell me that you'll support me through this. I want to go with all of my heart, but I won't if you tell me not to."

"I- I-" stammered James. As he gazed into the emerald eyes he loved so much, he saw the years of scars, the many times Lily was forced to sacrifice what she wanted for the needs of her family and friends. How could he deny her this? But as he thought about letting her go, he felt painful pangs attack his heart. How could he bear to lose her?

**A/N. I think I'll go straight to the questions, starting with the biggest:**

**What will James say to Lily? What do you want him to say to her?**

**Why do you think the Auror Academy was attacked and how do you think it will change things?**

**What did you think about the game of Pitch?**

**How did you feel about the attack on Diagon Alley? About Lily and Remus's involvement? About Bellatrix?**

**What did you think about the Remus/Lily bonding after the attack? **

**What do you want to happen in the coming chapters?**

**(I would just like to comment that I really enjoy reading about what some of you think is coming up! Many times you have ideas that I haven't even thought of and sometimes I am able to incorporate them into the story- you reviewers know who you are! So please answer the last question if nothing else, and the more farfetched and silly the answer is the more I will enjoy it!)**

**Finally an FYI- I have chapters 48 and 49 complete, so again inspire me to edit them and they shall appear! (Another note- wow this chapter is full of them!- I don't mean to pressure anyone into reviewing. I am merely stating that reviews push me to update. There is not set number of reviews that will make me update. Chapter 45 received 26 reviews and Chapter 46 only received 23, yet I'm updating now!) Okay I'm really done now!**

**-AAA**

**P.S. I was done, but then it came to my attention that many people have not heard of the fantastic game that is Pitch. It is a complicated game that is hard to explain, so I have included this website to explain it for me: .org/wiki/Pitch_(card_game). The Potters, Lily and Sirius were playing team Pitch in this chapter. If the webiste link doesn't work just put "pitch" into wikipedia, select the card game definition and you will find the same site. I would strongly advise any card players to learn and play this game; it's one of my favorites!**


	48. Fighting Fire

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Harry Potter or Harry Potter related copyrights.**

**Song: **_**Come Back to Me**_** by David Cook (this one I strongly suggest listening to, not only because David has a gorgeous voice, but also because it fits almost perfectly for the first part of this chapter).**

"I- I-" stammered James. As he gazed into the emerald eyes he loved so much, he saw the years of scars, the many times Lily was forced to sacrifice what she wanted for the needs of her family and friends. How could he deny her this? But as he thought about letting her go, he felt painful pangs attack his heart. How could he bear to lose her?

"You should go," he finally said. "Go and find yourself and then come back to me. Just don't change too much, because I love you just as you are."

Lily's face lit up with a soft smile. "Thank you," she said serenely as she kissed him softly on the mouth. As she pulled away, emerald eyes met hazel, and their lips brushed again. Soon their kisses grew hungrier. Hearts pumped rapidly and breathing grew erratic as Lily shifted so that she was straddling James. He groaned as she tangled her fingers in the sensitive hairs at the base of his neck. Her breath caught as he lavished kisses along her jaw.

"Really? I leave for two minutes and this is what happens?" joked Sirius as he interrupted the couple. "Mr. Potter should be paying me to stick around you two."

"What makes you think we have to stop because you're here?" asked Lily, her attention temporarily diverted. "You're the one who looks like a perv if you stay."

"You underestimate me," Sirius told them gravely as James recaptured Lily's attention. "I'm bored, because I really don't want to go to bed, so I will be forced to be a complete and utter prat to entertain myself. Thus, _Wingardium Leviosa_!"

"Sirius Orion Black, you put me down this instant!" demanded Lily as Sirius made her fly around the room.

"Padfoot I am going to kill you, you bloody arse!" thundered James.

"Only if you can catch me!" he cackled, levitating Lily out of the room and running out soon after her.

Due to the fact that Sirius kept throwing things in James's path, James failed to catch up to his devious friend until after Sirius had dunked Lily in the middle of the lake.

"You threw her into the lake?" asked James disbelievingly. "I refuse to protect you in any way. You deserve whatever you get."

"Come on Prongs, we've been friends for seven years, that has to count for something, doesn't it?" asked Sirius worriedly as he spied the red head swiftly swimming to shore.

"It would except for the fact that you interrupted a snog session I was having with my girlfriend, who, after tomorrow, I won't be able to kiss or see until Christmas," James informed him.

"But that was all in good fun!" Sirius tried to convince him, still keeping on eye on Lily. "You'll be able to talk her out of her rage won't you?"

"I suggest you start running now," James said simply.

"Best idea you've ever had Prongs," Sirius said as he started running.

"He's gone?" asked Lily as she stood next to James, slightly shivering as a cool summer breeze picked up.

"He's gone," James confirmed. "And not likely to be back."

"Then do you fancy a swim?" Lily inquired.

"With you? Always," James replied with a grin.

-----

James was awoken from a very peaceful slumber by the very obnoxious sound of an owl pecking on his window. He groaned as he reached to his nightstand and put his glasses on. Trying not to wake Lily, he slid her head off of his chest and placed her carefully on a pillow. His breath caught as she made a small sound like a kitten mewing in her sleep.

Silently cursing the owl for not going to the main foyer like all other owls, James opened the window and took the letter. He quickly scanned it and almost danced with joy. It stated that although the aurors had successfully repelled the Death Eater attack, the training center had received some structural damage, so training was postponed for three days.

In a state of bliss, James slipped back into bed and curled up against his girlfriend. He couldn't believe his luck- three extra days with Lily!

Lily awoke panic-striken around eleven. She knew by the amount of sunshine in the room that she had overslept; James and Sirius were due to leave at eight! She couldn't believe that she had missed her opportunity to say good-bye to them. Clumsily she tried to get out of bed, hoping that for some reason they would still be there. However, getting out of bed when another person is holding on to you and the sheets are every which way twisted around your legs is no easy thing.

Lily was normally a graceful person, but this morning was an exception. With a yelp she crashed to the ground next to James's bed, one of the sheets still twisted around her ankle and her hair covering her face. She sat there, dazed for a minute, still not fully awake.

"Morning love," said James with a smirk as he peered down at her.

"Oh shut up you big prick," huffed Lily testily. "I thought you had left without saying good-bye."

"I would never leave you without saying good-bye," James promised her.

Lily's face took on a shocked look. "You didn't decide not to go, did you?!"

"No," James laughed. "Due to the attack, they postponed the opening of the Academy. You're stuck with me for another three days."

"Three days," Lily said softly, her eyes shining like a small child on Christmas day.

James smiled and pulled Lily back into bed with him.

"You know that we should get up eventually," Lily murmured as they lay cuddling on James's bed.

"Eventually," James agreed as he burrowed his face further in Lily's hair, her scent entrancing him.

"What is your mother going to think if we stay up here all day?"

"That we are very considerate for not being all lovey-dovey in front of her and Sirius," answered James.

"Speaking of Sirius, he is probably becoming bored as we speak and you know how dangerous that is…"

"Lily," James pouted, his feelings slightly hurt. "It sounds like you don't _want_ to stay here all day with me."

Lily turned on her side so you could face James properly. "There is nothing I want more than to stay here with you for forever. I'm just afraid that if we're left on our own for too long… things would get out of hand."

James's imagination exploded. He tightened the hand he had entangled in Lily's hair into a fist.

"Exactly my point," said Lily softly as she stroked his face. "You know that we can't, not now."

"Someday cannot come soon enough," groaned James.

Lily closed her eyes and tried to get her rapidly beating heart under control. She wanted him so bad… was so completely and utterly intoxicated by him…

"If I don't leave now I won't be able to stop," she whispered fearfully as her eyes shot open looking a little terrified.

"Go," James urged her huskily. He knew he didn't have the willpower to leave; he knew that if she even made the slightest move he would never be able to control himself.

Lily kissed him chastely on the lips and slipped out of his grasp before he could reciprocate. She dashed through the door without looking back. Hastily she ran into her room and shut the door behind her. Then she sat up against the door, breathing heavily. It frightened her how easily he could break down her every inhibition, how she could barely think straight when he was that close to her… looking at her _that_ way… Lily groaned and buried her face in her arms that lay upon her knees.

Across the hall James was already fully immersed in a freezing cold shower, furiously trying to think of anything except Lily. He first tried to recite the twelve uses of dragon blood, but that reminded him of the time he and Lily were studying for their N.E.W.T.s together and she was trying to drill the uses into his head and he kept kissing her neck between each use. Then he tried to recall the forty-seven steps it took to become an animagus, but that only made him think of the time that Lily jumped out of her window and transformed in midair… and then what happened in the woods between them. So then he tried to think of nothing at all, but still images of Lily seemed to seep through. James groaned and slammed his fist into the tile of his shower in frustration.

Eventually both Lily and James arrived at lunch, though not together. Lily had been quietly eating her salad when she felt James enter the room. She glanced up briefly, met his gaze, blushed furiously and returned her concentration to her food. James glanced at her for a second longer and then he too, tore his attention away and sat down next to his best friend.

Sirius looked between the two teenagers with extreme amusement. He couldn't imagine why they refused to look at each other, yet continued to blush as they sat in such close proximity. Then Sirius noticed that his surrogate mother was watching them with the same enjoyment. As Sirius met Mrs. Potter's gaze, they both nearly exploded with laughter. James and Lily thought they were being so sneaky, yet they couldn't have been more obvious.

"Wow," said Sirius as he groaned quite obviously. "I am _so_ full. I really wish I could do more… but sadly this was all I could do."

"Well Sirius dear, you shouldn't push yourself to forbidden limits. Be content with what you are able to have. Maybe someday in the future you'll be able to have more," said Marilyn, playing Sirius's game.

"I know Mrs. Potter," sighed Sirius girlishly. "But it's just so appealing **right now**. I don't know how I'm going to be able to control myself from just having it **all**."

Sirius and Mrs. Potter grinned devilishly as they watched the couple grow redder and begin to fidget uncomfortably while still trying to pretend they were unaffected.

"Excuse me," muttered Lily, her gaze still cast downward as she fled from the table.

Finally James looked up to watch Lily leave. His face said that he very much wanted to follow her, but his fist that was clenched around his fork showed that he knew he couldn't. After Lily's departure, the table fell into a silence that was only broken by the sounds of James's furiously spearing his lettuce.

Then Mrs. Potter inquired, "Sirius, dear, what are you doing?"

James looked over at his best mate who was furiously waving his knife up and down through the air.

"I'm trying to cut the sexual tension!" he cried. "Lily's not even here anymore and I can still feel it!"

Mrs. Potter erupted into giggles, but James was not so amused. He hurriedly pushed his chair back from the table and stomped toward the Quidditch Pitch, not even bothering to grab his own broom but settling for using one of the ones in the broom cupboard.

"Oh Sirius, you are naughty," chastised Marilyn, her eyes shining with mirth.

"I think that Uncle Harry and Auntie Eileen would find this _situation_ particularly funny," Sirius said with a grin.

Marilyn mirrored his grin and said, "I wonder if they have any plans for dinner…"

Meanwhile James was airborne, enjoying the feeling of the wind rushing through his hair and washing over his skin. For awhile he flew meaninglessly around the pitch, doing some tricks to entertain himself. He was finally able to think about something other than his incredibly irresistible girlfriend. Well that didn't last long.

Once he got bored of the pitch, he started roaming the Potter grounds, thankful that they lived in an all-wizard area. That was when he saw Lily, who was, as he had predicted, running. He swooped down to tail her. It was as if a magnet was pulling him in; he had meant to only watch from a distance, but all too soon he was close enough that he could hear her even breaths as she tried to outrun her frustrations.

"Lily," he murmured from behind her.

Lily didn't dare turn around, her hormones were still running wild and free through her veins.

"Lily," James persisted.

Lily knew she couldn't outrun James on land, but she did know what could give him a run for his money… Unexpectedly a beautiful and sleek falcon was on the ground in Lily's place, and without breaking stride, launched itself into the air.

James was so surprised he nearly flew right into the wall that formed the boundary of the rose garden his mother adored. Always a fast thinker, James rapidly recovered and the chase was on. Lily had the advantage of being small, and fast, but James wasn't exerting energy like Lily and he had logged many more hours in the sky than she had.

Lily made sharp turns and sudden stops, but she couldn't seem to shake James off of her tail feathers. She flew in and out of the goalposts on the Quidditch Pitch and still he followed her every move. She skimmed the surface of the lake; he followed and even dared to splash her. Still she flitted and dived, enjoying the thrill of the chase almost as much as the notion of being caught.

Deciding to give James a challenge, Lily darted toward the woods. For her, navigating the trunks, branches, and boulders would be easy; her streamlined body would have no problem fitting through even the smallest of gaps. James, however, was a nearly full grown man who was limited in his mobility by the abilities of his broomstick. While Lily was flying as gracefully as any natural falcon, James was bumbling around the woods being scratched by branches and just barely flying away from collisions with a few scrapes.

After the third time he nearly killed himself James lost sight of the auburn arrow he had been pursuing so he rocketed himself above the treetops. Slowly he floated above the branches, hoping to catch a glimpse of the falcon that sported feathers the same hue as her hair. After a few minutes of searching, James began to get nervous. What if something had happened to her?

His anxiety was alleviated when the object of his affection broke through the uppermost layer of the tree branches only a few meters away. James stretched out his arm and Lily perched upon it. However, she was not totally aware of exactly how sharp her talons were; James hissed in pain as she accidentally tore into his bare forearm. Lily squawked softly in what James took to be remorse.

"You look tired, can I give you a lift?" offered James grinning.

Lily nodded but soared back into the safety and privacy of the woods, hoping James would follow. He did. By the time he had navigated the web of tree limbs, Lily had already returned to her human form, her back to James. James surprised her by soaring behind her, picking her up and depositing her on the broom in front of him.

Lily shrieked in surprise and then laughed good-naturedly. "You are a prat, you know that?"

"Yup," James confirmed grinning as he led them out of the woods. "I also know that you wouldn't want me any other way."

"You sound so sure about that," joked Lily.

"I am sure."

"You're also cocky."

"You love that about me too."

"Apparently I love a lot of things about you."

"Do you want to know something else you love about me?"

"Sure," Lily laughed.

"You also love my love of excitement and danger."

"Oh do I?" asked Lily as she glanced back at her boyfriend.

"Want to play a game?" he inquired as he grinned roguishly as his heart began to beat faster as his excitement rose.

"Alright," agreed Lily as she could feel her own adrenaline start to race.

"Do you trust me?" he asked, his tone very serious.

"With my life," she answered just as serious.

James broke eye contact and swiftly knocked Lily off of his broom. They had been flying more than one hundred meters above the Quidditch Pitch. This gave Sirius, who had ventured outside to tease James some more, a fantastic view of what happened. After the initial shock wore off, he mounted the broom he was carrying and shot up into the sky.

Seconds seemed like hours as Sirius watched one of his best mates hurtle through the sky to possible death. He had eyes for only one thing. He was closing in fast, but so was the ground, as he raced toward the middle of the pitch, where it appeared she would land. Once he got to the anticipated spot he soared upwards, hoping to catch her long before she even had the chance to meet the ground. He was sure she was nearly dying with fright.

About twenty meters above the ground Sirius held out his arms and neatly plucked Lily out of harm's way. His broom plunged downward because of Lily's added weight and downward velocity, but Sirius quickly took control by guiding the broom with his knees and lowered them to safety. After a somewhat rocky landing Sirius placed Lily, who did look a little on the green side, on the ground and then looked up into the sky. He didn't find his best mate however, because James had already landed.

"Aww… Padfoot you ruined the whole game," whined James as he reached out a hand and helped Lily up.

"Game?! GAME?!" spluttered Sirius. "She was falling through the sky about to DIE!"

"No one was going to die," said James calmly. "It was all under control."

"I didn't see you saving her life!" bellowed Sirius angrily.

"I would have if you didn't interfere," said James matter-of-factly. "But she wasn't in any danger in the first place."

"James **you bloody wanker** pushing people off of brooms just so you can heroically save them is not a game!" Sirius informed his best friend rather loudly, emphasizing his point by poking James in the chest with every word.

"We're all just fine," said James defensively. "Right Lily?"

"Sirius," said Lily gently. "I trusted that James would catch me."

"Lily," said Sirius sternly. "He's not even using his regular broom. That broom is much slower and harder to handle than his usual one because it's an older model which he hasn't used for years. In reality he probably couldn't have saved you because he was calculating everything with the wrong statistics."

James blanched as he looked at the broom in his hand. It **was** an outdated model; Lily really could have died if Sirius hadn't been there.

"Lily," said James haltingly. "I'm so sorry. I didn't realize…"

"It's all okay," said Lily after taking a deep and calming breath. "No one got hurt; well other than your arm which we should probably bandage up because it's still bleeding from earlier... Let's all just calm down and go inside."

"I'll meet you guys later," said Sirius as James and Lily started toward the house. He was still so furious with James for purposefully putting Lily's life in danger that he didn't think he could stand to be in the same room with him. He went to the supply room, retrieved the bludgers and a beater's bat, and vented his frustration by hitting the violent balls around for a few hours.

He just couldn't believe that James would be so careless…_smack_…so foolish…_whack_…so childish…_hit_…to endanger the life of the woman he loved. When would he ever grow up? _Bash_

And Lily, how could she put her life in his hands? _Strike_ And then when she finds out that her trust in him could have gotten her killed be completely fine? _Beat_ She was a fool too! _Clout_ Two fools, blinded by love and trust and hope. _Wallop _If this is what love involved Sirius didn't want it. _Thump_

Hitting the bludgers couldn't alleviate Sirius's rage. However, his anger immediately melted when he walked into his favorite parlor and saw James and Lily sprawled out on one of the couches asleep. His glasses were askew and she was drooling, but they just looked…right together he concluded. Quietly he requested a camera from a house elf and took a picture to show their children someday. Maybe love wasn't so bad after all…

-----

"Sorry we're late," apologized Harry boisterously as he and Christopher entered the dining room where Eileen, Marilyn, Sirius, James, and Lily were already sitting waiting. "Work is a little crazy right now."

"A little crazy?" snorted Christopher as he took his seat at the head of the table. "Our training facility was attacked last night!"

"Yeah that was a bit of a bummer," said Harry lightly as he took his usual seat at the foot of the table.

Lily couldn't believe how different the two brothers were; Sirius and James- a _Black_ and a _Potter_- were more alike than the two Potter men. Physically they were built much the same; same black hair (though Harry keeps his a bit long and messy like James and Christopher's is so short that it isn't given the ability to stick up in odd directions), the same chocolate brown eyes (though Harry's sparkles and Christopher's are sharp behind his round glasses), and the same tall and lean build (though Harry is a few centimeters taller and Christopher's muscles are slightly more defined). But other than that easy-going and happy Harry and stern, responsible Christopher didn't seem to be related at all!

"Let's talk about something more pleasant," suggested Marilyn.

"I agree," said Harry readily. "Let's move onto my favorite topic besides Quidditch- my nephew!"

"Let's not," said James warily as he glanced at the gleeful expression on his best mate's face.

"Oh yes let's," said Sirius enthusiastically.

"We could talk about why James is sitting next to his mother and best mate instead of his gorgeous girlfriend," suggested Harry pleasantly.

"I was wondering that myself," stated Eileen happily as she looked over at the only other person on her side of the table.

Lily shrugged noncommittally, a calm smile on her face. James struggled, but he was able to copy his girlfriend's calm and remain silent.

"Oh I know, I know!" called Sirius as he exuberantly waved his arm in the air as if he were in class. "Call on me!"

"Yes Mr. Black," said Harry indulgently, doing his best Slughorn impression. "If you hand me some crystallized pineapple a.k.a. the rolls you can have the honor of answering."

After passing the rolls down Sirius answered, "Because the sexual tension is bad enough when they are in the same room; if they were sitting next to each other it's likely we'd all be smothered by it."

"And why is there sexual tension?" asked Harry in a teacher-like voice. "I'm going to let you answer this one Chris."

Christopher rolled his eyes; he detested his brother's games. However he knew the easiest and least painful way to get through it was to play along. "Because they aren't having sex," grumbled Christopher.

Lily turned red and refused to look at anything except her roll which she was rapidly shredding. James turned red as well and looked as if he wished to simply slide under the table. Sirius and Harry wore matching grins of extreme amusement.

"We should come over more often Eileen," joked Harry. "Teasing James about girls is so much more fun when he has one."

"How about we enjoy our soup and take the mickey out of James over dessert?" suggested Christopher who just wanted some mundane conversation to dull his mind before he returned to the office.

"Fine," said Harry agreeably. "I need some time to observe and prepare so that I will have some quality quips."

James sighed in relief. He was silent as his family debated the weather, prices of caldrons, and the newest appointments to the Italian ministry.

Lily was also uncharacteristically silent while the conversation whirled around her. She had other things on her mind. She smiled sweetly at her gazpacho as she thought about James, in particular his tongue.

"That's it!" cried Harry in frustration as he threw his soup spoon to the ground as the soups were being cleared and the salads served. "I can't wait for dessert!"

"I've got one," said Sirius brightly. He held his spoon in one hand and his fork in the other. "I've just noticed that spooning leads to forking! Wouldn't you say so James?"

"Ummm… no," said James, clearing his throat.

"But you were just spooning," Sirius pointed out, waving his spoon. "Now don't you think it's about time you got around to using your fork?"

"Nope, perfectly content to use my spoon for a while longer," said James uncomfortably squirming as his father stared at him with an expression of suspicion. James had no choice but to eat his salad with his soup spoon as his uncle and best mate watched with smug grins.

"Hey James, why don't you toss Lily's salad?" asked Harry as soon as there was a lull in the conversation.

"I don't think her salad needs tossing," mumbled James. His blush had just started to die down, but now it was returning with a vengeance. He didn't even dare to look at Lily.

"It would be the gentlemanly thing to do," continued Harry.

"I agree; I think every girl's salad should be tossed," said Eileen teaming up with her mischievous husband.

"I may even start a charity to make that dream come true. I'll just go from house to house, tossing the salad of every pretty maiden I come across," said Sirius with a face that seemed serious.

Once it was clear that James wasn't going to say anything else, Sirius turned on Lily, knowing that was an even easier way to get a rise out of James than ribbing him directly.

"You'd like James to toss your salad, wouldn't you Lily?" he asked slyly.

"Well Sirius," said Lily, looking up for the first time. "I've tried cooking with James before; needless to say he's miserable at it. Perhaps I should give _you_ a try instead? You seem to know a lot about tossing salads and such."

She bit her bottom lip coyly and grinned at Sirius in what James deemed a very suggestive manner. James was a biased judge however; he thought Lily looked seductive all the time.

Harry burst out laughing. He hadn't expected Lily to fight fire with fire! Then he decided to allow his shell-shocked partner recover by introducing a "neutral" topic. "So the Arrows are looking good this year. That new seeker of theirs is remarkable."

"Quidditch is a game filled with disappointments in my opinion," said Eileen with a smirk she hoped would clue Sirius in to the fact that she was setting him up.

Sirius absolutely took the bait. "I always think it's sad when the **seeker** can't seem to **bag** the **snitch**. He gets so **close** **over** and **over** and **over** again, but always it just slips out of his reach…"

"I've always thought that the game would be better if there weren't any keepers on the pitch. Then the **chaser** could so easily get the **ball** in the hoop and finally **score**," said Harry.

"One of my favorite **activities** when Harry and I first started dating was **riding** his **broomstick**," said Eileen, starting yet another barely concealed innuendo. "Has James taken you for a ride on **his** **broomstick** yet Lily?"

Lily was torn about answering. Literally she had ridden on James's broomstick before and Sirius knew that so if she said no then he would call her out on it. If she said yes then it could be seriously misinterpreted…

"Ummm… no he hasn't," she eventually answered.

"Lily!" said Sirius in a "shocked" tone. "I saw you riding his broomstick just this morning! It looked like you enjoyed it; I can't believe you would forget so quickly! I'm sure you've bruised poor James's ego."

Lily looked like she was about to vomit, but then she recovered and smiled. "Well Sirius, I know that you'll agree that riding a broomstick for the first time is the truly memorable experience. Riding _your_ broomstick while you were over my house last summer will always be my fondest memory. Though I do wish that you would have let me go first; having new experiences after my younger sister is always so… degrading, not to mention sharing you in the first place…"

For the first time that night James grinned and made eye contact with Lily. She really was too clever for her own good. Lily blushed as she read the admiration and pride that radiated from James's gaze. Marilyn looked adequately shocked and abashed while Eileen giggled as she tried to keep all of the lettuce in her mouth. After that the conversation skirted any topics that could be misconstrued as sexual. Well until dessert at least…

"I really like bread," said Harry as he dug into his bread pudding animatedly. "But I much prefer it toasted."

"You like toast too don't you Lily?" began Sirius covertly.

"I like it as much as the next girl I suppose," answered Lily guardedly.

"James I can't believe you've let this lovely maiden's bread go untoasted all these weeks! Really mate, you have to get on that. We all know that you have so little experience in this area because you're so bad at it, but it's really a very simple operation. In fact it's so basic that it's mostly instinct. I know that you could rise to the occasion if you would just give it a go," ended Sirius with a triumphant smirk.

"Okay! Enough with the innuendos!" shouted James.

"In-your-endo," replied Sirius jokingly.

"That's it!" James slid back from the table and threw the napkin that was on his lap to the ground. He moved quickly around the table, and before anyone knew what he was doing, James pulled Lily's chair across the smooth wooden floor and spun it so that she was facing him. Smoothly he crouched down and crashed his lips against Lily's. She was hesitant at first because of their audience, but James was persistent. He pressed her tightly against the back of her chair as one hand cupped her face and the other cradled the back of her head, angling it to meet his just right. Lily hadn't intended to let things go so far, but she couldn't resist when he parted her lips with his skilled tongue.

Long before either member of the couple wished James pulled away and swept out of the room without a word or even a backward glance.

"You do realize that your teenaged nephew just owned you right?" teased Eileen as she addressed her husband.

"He did not!" retorted Harry childishly.

"I'd have to say that he did," said Christopher smugly.

"Absolutely not!" said Harry loudly.

"He clearly had the last laugh," said Marilyn who also sided with her son.

"Thank you for dinner," said Lily, her voice quietly interrupting the playful argument. "It was lovely, but please excuse me; I think I'll go to bed now."

"Your own bed I presume?" said Christopher sternly.

A lovely shade of rose blossomed across Lily's cheekbones as she said, "But of course."

After Lily's departure, Harry laughed at his older brother. "**She** may be going to her own bed as told, but that's not going to keep them apart! Do you really think that he has some qualms about having sex with her in **her bed**?"

Blood rushed to Christopher's face. He pushed back from the table just as abruptly as his son had moments before and followed the path of his son's girlfriend.

"James!" he thundered as he reached the top of the stairs.

"Yeah dad?" said James as he stuck his head out of his bedroom.

"Lily!"

"Yes Mr. Potter?" said Lily as she walked out of her own bedroom across the hall. "Did you need something?"

"No, nothing. Nothing at all," said Mr. Potter slightly dazed. He turned around and returned to his dinner companions. Lily and James grinned behind his back.

"Really Chris," said Harry as Christopher reentered the room. "You left them alone?"

"They were in separate rooms," stated Christopher, ashamed that he had revealed the lack of trust he had in his son without any sort of justification.

"I guarantee that they aren't **now**," said Harry as he rolled his eyes. "Really you're making this way too easy for them. If father had made it this easy for me I wouldn't have even bothered eloping."

"What do you suggest I do? Sit in the hallway?" asked Christopher tiredly.

"Hell no!" said Harry. "I can think of four ways off the top of my head that would allow one or both of them to get by you. My expert suggestion would be to send Sirius up there to hang out with James."

"That's not as effective as you might think," Sirius informed them. "They're so accustomed to me being around that they don't mind doing… couple things in front of me anymore."

"You'll just have to trust them," said Marilyn as she put her soft and slightly wrinkled hand lightly over Christopher's clenched fist.

"I trust **her**; I just don't trust **him**," Christopher ground out.

"That's because you still remember what it was like to be a teenager in love," Harry jibed thoughtlessly.

Christopher unclenched his fist and flipped his hand so that his palm faced up. He closed his fingers around his wife's smaller hand and squeezed gently. Christopher remembered; he remembered all too well.

-----

Those three days had been filled with laughter and kisses, but they passed all too quickly. Soon it was time for Lily and Mrs. Potter to bid good-bye to James and Sirius. Mr. Potter would have liked to be there as well, but he was still doing paperwork from the attack on the Academy. It was obvious that there was a huge intelligence leak from within the Auror Department, and they needed to find out who it was fast.

"Bye Sirius," said Lily sadly while Mrs. Potter was saying good-bye to her son.

"See you soon Lils," he whispered in her ear as he gave her a long hug.

"Play nice with the other children," she joked as tears threatened to fall.

"When have I ever not played nice?" he asked rhetorically.

She just laughed and said, "Love you."

"Love you too," he smiled. "Have fun at genius school."

Then it was time for Mrs. Potter and Lily to switch. Marilyn was no less affectionate and motherly when she bid Sirius good-bye, telling him to do his laundry often, and not to talk back to his instructors.

No words were necessary between Lily and James. She threw herself into his arms and he held her tightly, breathing in as much of her as he could. Tears really did fall from Lily's eyes as they kissed good-bye.

"I love you," she said simply as she released him.

"Love you too," he said, wearing his trademark grin that she loved so much. "Always have and always will."

"Come on Prongs," said Sirius seriously, tugging on James's sleeve. "We have to go."

"Okay," responded James quietly. He took one last lingering glance at Lily and then followed his friend as they flooed to the Ministry. From there they would be side-apparated by an auror to the training facility.

"I can't believe they're really gone," sobbed Lily as Mrs. Potter wrapped her in a motherly hug.

Marilyn, tears sparkling in her own eyes, concurred saying, "I can't believe all of my boys are grown up, off to jobs and auror training… it seems like just yesterday that they were blowing up toilets and telling me girls were gross. I feel so old."

"I miss them already," sniffled Lily.

"Me too," sighed Mrs. Potter. "Although I've said good-bye to James for the term this time every year for the past seven years, this time it seems different. He's all grown-up now!"

"How about we have some tea," Lily suggested, withdrawing from the embrace.

"That definitely has the possibility to help," agreed Mrs. Potter.

That was the first of many hours that Lily spent in the company of Marilyn Potter. Over the next week and a half, the pair tended the rose garden, hosted a tea party, shopped, and packed all of Lily's supplies for school. They found comfort in each other's presence; Marilyn finally received the daughter she had always wanted, and Lily finally found the second mother she deserved.

Suddenly it was time for Marilyn to bid good-bye to the last teenager in her house. She knew that they would all be home for Christmas, but it seemed to her that the time span between September and December had never seemed so long. The moment that Lily disapparated just outside of the gates of the manor, Marilyn started to cry and couldn't stop.

-----

"Welcome to all of you," began an elderly auror as he addressed the trainees gathered before him. "I am Auror Timothy Striker, and I am the Director of the Auror Academy. I will be supervising your training from afar; if you see me before graduation chances are that you will be so deep in shit that you won't be able to see daylight. It's probable that five out of the forty of you will be in my office before Christmas, so don't get too attached to one another."

The trainees laughed uneasily. The man before them looked old, but his eyes were still sharp and his stature was alert. He was obviously not a man to be trifled with.

"That said, I will introduce your trainers. Head of Concealment and Disguise, Auror Mark DuBois, Head of Defensive Maneuvers Auror Pierre Phillipe…" James tuned out the rest of the introductions. He recognized each trainer from his father's dinner parties. Instead, he chose to gaze around at his classmates.

Most were gazing intently at the Director and his associates with a look that reminded James of Remus or Lily. James knew that Sirius didn't want to pay attention to such babble, but knew that he didn't have any choice. Even one slip-up could end his career; thus he looked just as focused as any other would-be auror.

James tuned back in as Auror Striker finished the introductions, "You all completed the necessary personality tests during the application process over the Christmas holidays last year, but over the next few days we will be conducting another series of more stringent tests. If you cannot handle these tests, please remove yourself from the Academy and stop wasting our time and effort because you won't make it. For the rest of the day the third year students will take you on a tour of the facility. Enjoy the last moments of free time you will have until Christmas."

James thought the tour was a bit boring, especially since Sirius wasn't in his group. For the highly advanced training facility of a program ranked eighteenth in the world it wasn't much. The "barracks" as they were lovingly called, were bland concrete buildings with three floors. Each floor had two rows of metal bunk beds. At either end of the sparse halls were loos. That was it.

The Academy also had a dining facility; James agreed when the guides called it a "mess hall" because the old building was certainly not the Great Hall. James caught himself wishing that the hall had been caught in the crossfire during the attack so that he'd have a nicer place to spend his meals. Perhaps a renovation would even have improved the food, he thought dully as he surveyed the plate of food that was handed out to each student as they passed the window to the kitchen.

After a bland lunch which James didn't eat, the group set out again. Now they toured the classrooms, underground rooms formed by slabs of rock slapped together by magic. James took one look at the rickety old desks and wished for Hogwarts, where there were windows to stare out of and the desks didn't look like magic was holding them together.

Next on the tour was at look at the training centers for the upper years. James would have loved to spend more time exploring these rooms, but the guides hurried them through saying that they would come to know the obstacle courses and scenario rooms better than they wanted to during their third year.

Then they came to the exercise facilities and James was finally impressed. The complex was six stories and had a lap pool, indoor Quidditch pitch, weight rooms, cardio equipment, and a track. Unlike the rest of the Academy, this equipment looked new and up-to-date. James was glad that there was a requirement to spend at least ten hours a week there; though he didn't think he would need such an excuse.

The last two areas on the tour were the fields where mock battles were staged, and the library. James's tour guides cackled as they informed the impressionable first years that they would be spending most of their time in the library since the first year was spent in class learning protocol, auror history, and magical theory.

Lunch had not been the exception, as James had hoped, but rather the rule. Dinner was every bit just as disgusting as the previous meal.

"How can you eat this?" James whispered to Sirius. He had been looking around and wondering how his fellow students could be ingesting the gruel in front of them, only to find that his best mate had joined the "dark side." He also saw Alice at another table eating happily as she chatted to the few female students at the Academy.

"Gotta eat something," Sirius pointed out realistically. "It's not as bad as it looks."

James couldn't help but wonder where his boisterous best mate had gone. It was like someone had thrown a wet blanket on him the moment they had entered the iron gates of the Academy. Instead of making jokes or introducing himself to the other trainees, Sirius was quietly keeping to himself; keeping his gaze on the table in front of him as he calmly ate his meal.

"So how was your tour?" James asked Sirius, trying to get him out of his shell.

"Good," replied Sirius moderately. "The library seemed nice."

"The **library** seemed _nice_?" repeated James skeptically. "You stepped foot in the Hogwarts library seven times in as many years! You hate libraries!"

"Do not," muttered Sirius.

"What's gotten into you mate? You were fine this morning."

"And I'm fine now," protested Sirius, the slightest hint of anger sneaking into his response. "Just drop it."

"Fine," stated James stubbornly as he turned to his plate of glop and dug into it furiously.

Soon the students filed out and went to their dormitories. James sighed as he climbed up to his bed. The fellow who had the bunk beneath him seemed like a decent bloke, but James wasn't really up to socializing. He missed his king-sized bed and the person he liked to share it with. He also missed his friends, even Sirius who was just down the hall.

As James put his head on his pillow he realized that it didn't have a pillowcase on it. Grumbling to himself he climbed back down and began to rummage around in his trunk for a pillowcase. Finally he found one, and as he pulled it out of the trunk a note slipped out. He couldn't help but grin as he read it.

_To my favorite auror trainee ever (don't tell Sirius- he thinks that he's my favorite!),_

_Right now I hope you're getting ready to go to bed and missing me; I'm certainly missing you! I wish I could be there with you; I bet there are twin beds and I can only imagine how close we would have to be to fit on one together. Since I can't really be there with you I packed one of my pillowcases. I've been sleeping on it for a few nights now, so I hope it smells like me! Love you!_

_Yours always,_

_ Lily _

As soon as he finished the short note he smelled the pillowcase; it did smell like Lily! Finally James's day seemed to be turning around. He climbed back into bed with much more enthusiasm and was able to peacefully drift off to sleep as the lights were extinguished a few minutes later.

Down the hall Sirius had no such luck. He also didn't have a pillowcase that smelled like his girlfriend to make him feel comfortable. Furthermore, he had that nagging feeling that he was being watched. He had felt it the first moment he had arrived. Mr. Potter had been right; he would be monitored more closely than any other trainee. He could only imagine how much James's dad had to plead on his behalf for him to have even made it this far.

He didn't blame the aurors; he wouldn't have let himself in if he had been in their shoes. For Merlin's sake, his cousin and her husband had aided in torturing a muggle-born only a few weeks ago, and he was fairly certain his family was involved in the attack on the Academy. For all he knew, they could have led the attack in retaliation for him trying to become an auror.

Sirius sighed and tried to get comfortable. After several minutes of struggle he ended up in the same position he started in, on his back staring at the bottom of the bed on top of his. He wished he had been lucky like James and had been given the top bunk; there were usually interesting cracks in ceilings to look at. Sirius had a feeling this was going to be a long night and an even longer term.

-----

Lily arrived in a large and open courtyard and looked around in pure delight. The area was filled with people milling about, looking around much like Lily. A wide grin spread across her face as Lily took in the marble palace behind her, the well manicured grounds that spilled out in front of her, just down the steps of the courtyard, the lake to her left, and another beautiful white building to her right. She also fell instantly in love with the town that she could just barely see between two of the mountains that formed part of the range that encircled the university.

"Lily Evans?!" gasped a familiar voice.

Lily didn't have time to match a name or face to the voice because she suddenly found herself in a tight hug.

"Vicky!" Lily shouted back as she identified the spunky girl in front of her. "I'm so sorry we lost touch!"

"Me too," she agreed. "But that's easy to do when you're not sharing life-threatening situations anymore."

"True," Lily laughed. "How have you been?"

"I've been great!" she gushed. "I had to sneak out of the house to make it here, and my parents are probably royally pissed at me for coming to Europe when they specifically told me I was never allowed out of the country again, but I'm thrilled to be here!"

"I like the hair," Lily commented as she took in the bleach blonde locks of her friend.

"I thought I'd tone it down a bit for my first day," Vicky said as she ran a hand through her short hair that was gelled to look like she had just rolled out of bed. "But I have some dye in my bag; I thought I'd throw some highlights in it tonight. That's why blonde hair is my favorite; highlights show up so well!"

"Isn't this place gorgeous?" gushed Lily as she did another 360 degree turn. She just couldn't get over how immaculate everything was.

"I can't get over it!" concurred Vicky. "This is a million times nicer than the university my parents wanted me to go to."

Lily and Vicky's conversation was ended by the arrival of a middle-aged wizard. As he descended the steps of the palace his robes swirled about him constantly shifting their color as if they had a mind of their own. He had hair the color of wheat that was slicked back in a sophisticated style. His eyes were remarkable; even at a distance Lily and Vicky could see the deep brown of his eyes that made it seem as if he had no irises at all, just overwhelming pupils that a person could drown in. Lily noted that much like Dumbledore, this man had a commanding presence; everyone fell silent at his arrival without so much as a word.

"Hello my friends," said the man as he opened his arms wide in a welcoming gesture. "It is my great privilege to be the first to welcome you to this haven of discovery and curiosity. I do not speak to you from a dais or pulpit; I talk to you while among you to show a belief that forms a facet of the core of this institution: we are not all created equal, but we must treat each other with equal respect regardless of abilities or background. Although I am much older than any of you, and I am the Head of this institution instead of a student, I will treat each of you as I would treat myself.

"All of you present have been thoroughly researched, watched for years by our esteemed panel of admittance. You are here because we believe that you can handle what this university has to offer you. You are mentally, emotionally, physically, intellectually, and spiritually strong. Here you will discover your limits and annihilate them.

"You will not leave here the same person that you are today. This is a frightening concept. Many of you are probably happy with the person you currently are; having just escaped the turbulent whirlwind of young adolescence, you probably thought that you were done. You thought that the person you are today would be the person you would die as. When this institution is done with you, you won't even recognize yourselves.

"Here at the university we do not require that you do anything; every single aspect of our program is voluntary. However, we will not award you with a diploma you haven't earned. We suggest that you follow our program, but if you design one that suits you better, by all means follow it. I trust that each and every one of you will meet our standards and someday in the future walk away from here with not only a piece of very expensive parchment, but also enough experiences to allow you to find your niche in the world and pursue it with respect, passion, and knowledge.

"Respect, passion, and knowledge form the core of this institute. By the time you leave here you will be able to speak these words in at least three languages, discuss their meaning and relevance in the modern and historical worlds with any linguistic or history expert, and embody them in each act.

"Now that I have said my piece, I will entrust you to a person more practical than an philosophic fuddy-duddy like myself."

The man extended his arm and the crowd's gaze followed it to see a woman who looked older than the hills. Her face was a mess of wrinkles; it sagged in baggy layers. Her deep green eyes were barely visible behind her thick spectacles, and her lips were extremely thin.

"Can you say 'dinosaur'?" Vicky whispered to Lily.

Suddenly the woman was standing only a few centimeters from Vicky's face; no one had even seen her move.

"I would rather be a dinosaur than a foolish girl who has addled her brains by adding chemicals to her hair to hide her insecurities that stem from the fact that her mother is overly controlling, her father too strict, and her talent makes her stand out. So tell me," continued the woman in the same clipped tones as she turned to Lily. "_Can_ you say dinosaur?"

"Yes," squeaked Lily, surprised at being addressed and not knowing the right answer.

"I'm waiting," snapped the woman.

Lily just looked confused. _What was she waiting for?_

"It's pronounced din-o-sore," said the woman painfully slowly. "I don't have high hopes for you child. We accept the one hundred most qualified witches and wizards in the world; someone has to be number 100 and I think I'm looking at her. Maybe if you're lucky some of the genius of the ninety-nine people ahead of you will rub off on you if you stand close enough.

"With that said," the old and cranky woman cast one last glare at Lily and Vicky and turned her back on them, leaving them to flounder in a pool of shame and misery. "I am the dean here at the institute. During the next two weeks I will acquaint you with life here. I will be your worst enemy and also your only source of support because you will not meet any of your professors until the rest of the students return after the break.

"During these two weeks it is my task, and from the look of the group gathered here it will be more difficult than past years, to get you mentally and physically prepared for your first term here. We will begin in just a few moments with a few 'ice-breakers,' or as I like to call them, 'freshmen-breakers.' During these two weeks we have established a spell that allows you all to understand each other's native languages, but after orientation is over you will have to overcome the language barrier in your own way.

"I feel like this is an appropriate moment to mention that we don't use the names that were given to us by our parents here. We name each other to reflect what need from that person. I will illustrate this using an example since some of you seem to be unable to master basic concepts. If I am looking for a mentor in a man, I will not call him Joe or Dan because these are informal names. Rather I would call him something that has a noble connotation, Richard or Thomas perhaps. If I were seeking a bedfellow, I might use a name such as Gregory," said the woman in what she thought was a sultry voice.

"Eventually all of your classmates will subconsciously agree on your name. This name is a reflection of how people view you; it means something, unlike the name that your parents gave to you after only knowing you for a moment or two. Those names were name of potential, reflections of the dreams your parents had for you. Now you will see if you lived up to these wishes, or utterly failed to achieve anything of the sort."

After a dramatic pause during which she scrutinized any student that happened to be in her range of vision, the dean continued. "Now scatter and let people introduce you to yourself."

Lily and Vicky smiled at each other and then went off in different directions.

Lily was looking around for someone who wasn't talking to anyone else when she felt a tap on her shoulder. She quickly spun around and came face to face with a young man half a head taller than her. He had blonde hair cut just a smidge longer than a crew cut and the most intense blue eyes Lily had ever seen. He also had a very cocky grin.

"Hello," he said, his voice a deep rumble that just oozed with self-confidence and ego. "You are one of the most beautiful girls I have ever seen; I believe Aphrodite would therefore be appropriate."

Lily grinned. "You are quite the charmer Theodore-who-likes-to-be-called-Teddy-by-his-girlfriends-who-are-just-girls-that-happen-to-be-friends-because-they-already-have-a-boyfriend-back-home. Where are you from _Teddy_?" she stressed the last word.

"Sweden," he answered shortly. "This boyfriend of yours, is he the jealous type?"

"Extremely. He is also the strong and angry type," she said warningly.

"So what would happen if I kissed you and he were here?" asked the very brave Teddy.

Lily's eyes flashed dangerously. "He would most likely strangle you, that is if there was anything left of you once I was through with you…"

Lily's threat was cut off when Teddy made good on his promise and kissed Lily. Lily didn't waste a second before she reacted; Teddy was magically lifted up and thrown across the courtyard, sliding to a fast halt at the feet of the dean.

"I suggest that in the future you use your tongue for talking and not kissing," said the dean curtly before she walked away.

"Ugh," shuddered Lily as she wiped her mouth off and spit on the ground.

"Boys are so dumb," quipped a small girl to Lily's left. Small was no exaggeration; the girl didn't even reach Lily's shoulders! She had very delicate Asian features and silky black hair that fell just past her shoulders.

"You seem like a Li-Mei; obviously you are not Chinese, but I feel like you are a 'pretty rose' nonetheless. You are certainly a pretty girl, but like any rose, you have some thorns. Your dismissal of that boy-"

"Teddy," interjected Lily with a grin; she was sure that such an egotistic guy would want a much more masculine name and the more she could spread 'Teddy' the happier she would become.

"Teddy, was very impressive. I like your style."

"Well, _Anna_, I also like your style. You are bold and honest; I think this may be the start of a great friendship."

Lily and Anna parted and continued to make new acquaintances. Lily found that there were more guys like Teddy in the group, but she didn't hold it against them because she realized that they were nervous and just trying to be the big man on campus. Also, there were quite a few Anna and Vicky's in the crowd, so Lily felt like the girls could certainly cut the egotistical guys down to size.

Each time she received a new name Lily giggled a little on the inside. She wondered what name her friends in England would have given her. She felt as though James would refuse to call her anything but Lily, Sirius would make up something ridiculous, Remus would pick something intuitive, and Peter would probably use something corny like 'Rose' or 'Daisy.' Marlene would pick something totally random and out there, like Georgette; Alice would pick something sensible like Jill or Laura. She couldn't wait to write to her friends to tell them about her first day!

However Lily would have to be careful about what she wrote. From the sound of his letters Sirius was downright miserable. Of course his words were positive; he had nothing but good things to say about his instructors, the facilities, the food… Lily knew better. Lily read between the lines and saw the misery of their author.

James wasn't much happier. However, he was much less subtle about it. No matter how many times Lily tried to gently hint that his letters were probably being scanned he wouldn't stop complaining about the terrible slop they called food, the boring classes, and the lack of Lily.

Lily missed James too, but she realized that in the excitement of her first few hours at the institute, the pangs of their separation dulled substantially, not that she would tell him that. But without constant reminders of him everywhere, she found that she could almost forget about him… not quite, but almost.

**A/N. So before I get to the questions I would just like to thank all of my reviewers. The past couple of chapters have gotten some less than stellar reviews. While I absolutely appreciate the reviews that sing my praises, I am also thankful for those that provide constructive criticism. I realized that in my haste to get to the next part in a timely manner I have been neglecting description and depth. That is how this chapter went from 12 Microsoft word pages to 23. It is the longest chapter I have written for this story. So there's your reward for reviewing!**

**Now the questions:**

**Fluffy enough for you? Favorite moment of fluff?**

**How did you like James's response at the beginning of the chapter?**

**Favorite innuendo?**

**How do you feel about the first days of Lily, James, and Sirius? **

**What do you think of Sirius's behavior both at the Quidditch Pitch and at the Academy?**

**Did you like Lily's note to James?**

**Does anyone remember Vicky? What do you think of her return?**

**P.S. If anyone actually listened to **_**Come Back to Me**_** please let me know! I'm very curious to see what you think of my musical accompaniments.**


	49. The Attractive Laftkalvs

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Harry Potter or Harry Potter related copyrights.**

**A/N To Everyone:**

**I am incredibly sorry that this wasn't up months ago, but I have been exceptionally busy lately! However, thanks to paddynprongsie, I edited this chapter I had written months ago and posted it for you all! I hope that it's length (20 Word pages!!!) makes up for some of the insane time gap. It is likely that the next chapter you will see after this will be in late December; when I had time to write I was having trouble with the next chapter- it wasn't coming out quite like I wanted, so it's going to take me some time to get it right. **

**Anyway- enjoy!**

**-AAA**

**P.S. There are some song lyrics in this chapter. Kudos to anyone who can pick them out!**

"After your three years here you will be given a series of exams. If you satisfactorily pass these exams then you will earn yourselves the ability to work as an auror. You may choose to accept our offer of a position at the British Ministry or sit for the tests of another country. During your first year as an auror in the British Ministry you will do rotations through the five divisions within the auror department. At the end of the year the Division Heads will convene and decide where to place you. The majority of you will be placed in Field Agents, many in Surveillance and Recon, those more suited to desk jobs will be placed in Investigation and Planning, some will go in Security, my old division, and a select few will join Special Ops.

"For the following year you will be paired with a mentor in your new division. After that time training is considered complete; you are then given a partner whom you will be stuck to until you of you dies so I advise you not to piss him off on the first day," joked Philip Norfolk, the instructor of Auror Protocol. He had just finished the unit on security and now he could finally get into the "fun" stuff and relive his glory days in the department.

Sirius led most of the aurors in chuckling half-heartedly at Norfolk's attempt to be funny. The rest appeared interested and entertained, except one troublesome trainee.

"POTTER!" bellowed the instructor. "Pay attention!"

"Yes sir!" exclaimed James, his attention having been effectively recovered.

This was not the first time James had been caught unaware in class; in fact it was almost routine for him to zone out at least once every class. It was partially understandable; the classes were tedious and boring, though necessary. However, James had volunteered to be an auror and thus attend auror training; therefore it was assumed that he would want to learn the necessary information. James was a disappointment to all of his instructors; they had expected better from Christopher Potter's son.

Sirius was behaving the exact opposite of James. While James rarely visited the library, wrote the bare minimum for his essays, and never volunteered in class, Sirius spent every hour not at the gym at the library, wrote essays with lengths that would make Lily proud, and was a regular teacher's pet. However he was also a disappointment to his instructors.

The instructors went over Sirius's case with a fine-tooth comb. In his file they found testimony after testimony from his teachers about what an exuberant, personable, and inspiring leader Sirius was. He was a charmer, convincing classmates and students alike to adore him. Also he lightened every situation, always knowing exactly what to do or say to raise everyone's spirits.

The instructors saw none of this Sirius Black. They found a serious and studious young man who rarely associated with his peers and never engaged in any conversation that wasn't academically relevant. Every once in a while they would see a glimmer of the man he could be, the auror they wanted on their team, but all too soon he clocked himself in solemnity once more.

At the end of class Norfolk called, "Potter, Black, you're both to see the Director immediately. Follow me."

As James and Sirius filed out of the room before the rest of the class they met with many sympathetic looks. No one especially liked the two trainees because they kept mainly to themselves, but they were still sad to see that they were being expelled already.

James and Sirius shared one horrified look as they entered the hallway and then diverted their gazes to the floor, dumbly following their instructor to their doom.

"You're up first Black," said the instructor emotionlessly as they stopped in front of a dingy looking door that both trainees had taken for a janitorial closet. "Knock and enter."

Sirius's fist trembled a bit as he knocked but neither of his companions commented. As Sirius stepped into the office his shock dissipated, leaving only pure fear and crushing disappointment. He had done everything he could to be a normal student, never uttering a negative statement, participating in class, doing all of his schoolwork on time, and yet he was still being expelled only a month into training. What was he going to tell Mr. and Mrs. Potter?

"Sirius," the Director greeted him cordially from behind his enormous mahogany desk. "At ease. Please sit."

Sirius was glad that he could relax his formal stance and sink into one of the plush green armchairs in front of the desk. For some reason he had pictured hard wooden chairs, but he wasn't complaining that his last few moments at the academy were spent in relative physical comfort.

After a tense moment in which Sirius squirmed under the Director's intense gaze, Sirius said, "You wanted to see me sir?"

"Yes I did," agreed the Director as he reclined in his chair, the scrutiny over. "Did you know that ultimately the decision to let you into the Academy fell into my hands?"

"No sir," mumbled Sirius.

"It was a difficult decision. The committee spent days on your case debating your character, family background, test results… until finally they set the decision in my hands. I struggled with the case for a day or so and then called in Christopher Potter."

Sirius paled at the mention of his surrogate father. Christopher had put so much on the line for him and he had thrown it all away.

"Did you know that I mentored Christopher? Back in the years just after Grindelwald I was the second Captain in Special Ops. I hand selected Christopher and had him promoted to Special Ops before his first postgrad year was even over. I saw incredible potential in him from the first day he set foot in my department. Obviously I wasn't mistaken.

"Christopher was the last candidate I ever undertook as a mentor. Every candidate I saw after him was just a let-down; no one else was worth my effort. However, I have the same feeling about a trainee in this class as I did all those years ago. Christopher's statement only made me positive."

"James?" asked Sirius in a small voice.

"No my dear boy!" exclaimed the Director as he boomed with the friendly laughter that few trainees were ever allowed to hear. "It's you!"

"Me?!" asked Sirius, his voice deep with shock.

"Yes you," said the Director, clearly amused. Sirius could hardly believe that this was the same hardass who had stood in front of the new class and scared most of them to death. "I admitted you because Christopher knew you had the potential to become a great auror. I have kept you here because **I** know that you have the potential to become a great auror.

"However, you haven't been showing your true self here. While I admire your single-minded dedication to your schoolwork, essays and tests are not everything. The Academy is a boarding school because we want you to bond with your fellow trainees. You must learn to trust each other to be able to function properly in your teams, and the necessary level of trust requires years to build.

"I have never said this to a trainee before, but Sirius, concentrate on your studies a little less. I want you to express your true self; make friends, pull pranks, make sarcastic comments in class. Just be yourself. I admitted Sirius Black the partying prankster, not this bookworm perfect student I've seen these past few weeks. Do I make myself clear?"

"Crystal," stated Sirius lightheartedly. He hadn't felt so good in weeks.

"Good, now send in that best mate of yours," he said dismissing the young trainee.

"Yes sir!" Sirius said as he rose and nearly danced out of the room. He wasn't being expelled!

"Your turn mate," said Sirius with a barely concealed smile of glee. He didn't even think that James wouldn't receive similar news.

James, who had been sitting on the floor against the wall slumped over his raised knees, sighed and got up. He looked old, old and tired, not like the carefree and full of life James Potter that Sirius knew.

"See you later mate," mumbled James as he brushed by Sirius.

Sirius, like the good friend he was, decided to wait for James, so he settled down and made himself comfortable. Then he took out some parchment and a quill from his bag and proceeded to write Lily a letter about the day's wonderful news.

"Hello Potter," said the Director coolly, all traces of the friendly and fatherly mentor gone.

"Sir," James greeted him as he stood at attention in front of the desk, his face a mask of impassive marble.

"I leave this Academy exactly twice a year, for your mother's Christmas party and for your father's annual auror reunion. Your father comes here to visit me on a monthly basis, and we exchange letters far more often than that. This being established I will tell you that your father has informed me about most of your life; I could probably write your biography. He has been telling me since the day you were born, I was there at the hospital that day, that you were destined to be at this academy.

"Obviously he was right, you are here. However, even your friend Peter could have gotten in with a last name like Potter. And I don't think you realize this, but even a Potter can be expelled. Over this past month I have watched you strut around here like you own the place, like you're above everyone and everything. Learning seems to bore you, and you consider yourself superior to your instructors, every single one of whom had active roles in the battle against Grindlewald and for this, if nothing else, deserve your respect.

"Yet you continue to barely scrape by! I want to know, right now, if you are here because it is your father's dream or because it is your dream."

"Mine," answered James sharply.

Angered, Striker rose from his desk and stepped in front of James. Although shorter, the older man seemed to tower over the younger.

"I am ready to send you packing this minute. Your lack of enthusiasm, of desire, is grounds enough for me to say that you'll never make it. You have to **fight** to stay here, starting now. Fight! Make me let you stay!" shouted Striker as spit flew from his mouth, desperately trying to inspire the morose trainee before him.

James really had to fight to even work up enough emotion to make a convincing argument. For so long he had allowed himself to exist in a pit of despair, a very comfortable and easy place. He just went through the motions, not allowing himself to feel anything: not the joy of making new friends, or the shame of being lectured by instructors. However, Striker's spit seemed to have magical qualities, because it finally broke through James's self-imposed walls, and allowed the old James Potter to shine through.

"I have what it takes sir," said James, his voice quiet at first, but gaining strength as he went. "I belong here not because my dad is a great auror but because I completed all of the qualifications. I passed every test you threw at me with flying colors; I perform well under pressure, I am a natural leader, and a damn good duelist. And unlike many of my peers I have an incentive. Many trainees are from other countries; they don't know what this war is like."

"And you do?" asked Striker skeptically as he rested his body against his desk, coolly surveying James.

"On many levels yes. I was involved in a death eater attack on King's Cross Station last fall, my friends were tortured in August, and my dad is at risk all the time. Also, as Head Boy, it was part of my responsibilities to comfort the students who lost family and friends in this war. I have seen the damage done by Voldemort and his cronies in so many different ways. Unlike many others here, I have something to fight **for**."

"What are you fighting for?" asked Striker mockingly. "Peace? Equality? Love? These are abstract qualities that will desert you the moment fear strikes. I have seen your kind before; they end up in the permanent ward at St. Mungo's."

"No!" said James furiously. "I am fighting for my girlfriend!"

"And what happens when you break up with her? You'll stop fighting?"

"No!" yelled James. "I will always fight for her and every other muggleborn! I watched her be prejudiced against for seven years because she has a muggle family. Almost subconsciously everyone always sided against her! They may not have been death eaters or even blood purists, but there is something in every wizard, some sort of superiority engendered by the fact that we can do magic and others can't, that causes them to look down upon others. I am fighting to end **that**."

"In other words, you are fighting for truth, equality, fairness."

"There's a difference. I am not fighting for abstract and fancy theories. I am fighting for these things in the concrete. I am fighting to end the nightmares my girlfriend has because she has been tortured by death eaters twice already, fighting to stop first years from becoming orphans, fighting to stop families from breaking apart because of differing opinions and deaths. I don't fight for things; I fight for **people**," concluded James, his chest heaving from his emotional speech.

Striker smiled. "Now there is the James Potter I know! Don't lose yourself again. Now go, and don't make me call you in here again, because next time you'll be out. Dismissed."

"Sir," said James nodding as a sign of respect. He then left. As soon as he exited he breathed a sigh of relief.

"How about some one-on-one Quidditch?" asked Sirius as he rolled up his letter.

"Sounds great," said James, the first genuine smile on his face since he had left home. "But why don't we see if we can scrounge up two whole teams?"

"Even better," agreed Sirius.

The dream team was back together once more. Starting on that day they began to conquer the Auror Academy, just as they had had Hogwarts wrapped around their little fingers. The young men were their charismatic selves and everything fell into place. Life was good again.

-----

"We meet again Aphrodite," said Teddy cockily.

"So it seems," responded Lily dryly.

"I think we would make a good couple," continued Teddy.

"I don't think so," said Lily, her focus still on the path in front of her.

"Why not?"

"Because I already have a boyfriend whom I love very much," stated Lily wearily. "I've told you that every day for the past week."

"And every day I find you to be the only girl here who can keep up with me during our morning runs."

"And the ego emerges again," quipped Lily. "Personally I see it as you being the only **boy** here who can keep up with **me**."

"Did you run a lot back home?" asked Teddy, still trying to make conversation.

"Yes," said Lily, her teeth gritted.

"So did I. I put myself on a very strict physical training routine when I was twelve. These morning runs are like a cakewalk. I used to run up mountains! I find it so humorous to watch the others lag behind us every morning. They were stupid to focus on only the academics. I knew since I was five that I wanted to come here, so I have kept my focus on advancing my whole person," boasted Teddy. "I am mentally, physically, and _socially_ skilled. I am a complete package."

"You know, you remind me a lot of my boyfriend, except you lack his charm, kindness, bravery, physique, good looks, and kissing prowess," mocked Lily.

Teddy was silent after that. Lily mentally sighed in relief.

Every morning at six a.m. all of the students went on a run. Each person ran as far as they could as fast as they could and marked their progress on the trail that wound through the woods near the Institute. So far only Teddy and Lily had finished the ten kilometer run. Teddy was right in assuming that most of his peers were purely the brainy type. They all started together, but Teddy, Lily and a few others quickly raced ahead of the others. Slowly they would all fall behind, leaving Teddy and Lily alone. That was when Teddy would begin to pester Lily; it was often the highlight of his day.

"You know that you're going to date me one day," said Teddy suddenly breaking the silence. He looked over at the feisty red-head beside him and grinned cockily.

"Am I going to be drunk because I feel like that's the only way you would get me to be alone with you."

Teddy spread his arms wide and turned around. "It looks like we're alone right now. Technically, this could be considered a date."

"It is **not** a date," spat Lily. She was already feeling guilty enough that she had been forced to cheat on James on her first day at school, especially since he was so insecure about her being there in the first place.

"I think it is," said Teddy in a teasing voice.

"I think I'm going to punch you in the face," threatened Lily as she increased her pace.

Teddy easily matched her stride and continued, "I think that you're really fun to tease. You get so _hot_ and _bothered_."

Lily refrained from answering because her temper was just short of the boiling point. Subconsciously she thought about how James used to make her blood boil when he was trying to get her to date him.

"And when **you** get _hot_ and _bothered_, **I** get very… _aroused_."

"Shut your mouth while you still have one," said Lily as she picked up the pace again.

"You want to do something to my mouth?" asked Teddy as he feigned shocked. "Why Madame Goddess, I'm honored!"

"You won't like what I'm going to do to you," Lily ground out.

"Personally I'm into the rough stuff. When it's love if it isn't rough it isn't fun," he said grinning, seemingly unaffected by the intense physical exercise.

"Isn't there some other girl you can bother?" asked Lily, fighting to control both her breathing and her temper.

"No one else interests me like you do," he said simply.

"Then you must be a masochist because **you** only interest **me** as a punching bag," retorted Lily.

"Your sardonic wit amuses me, your body entrances me, and your talent intrigues me. There is no other girl."

"I've dated guys like you before; generally when I'm through with them they go crying back home to their mothers."

"I'm built of sterner stuff than your wimpy English blokes," Teddy informed her.

"Well I'm not a passive Swedish milkmaid," countered Lily.

"That's what I like about you; the whole 'milkmaid' thing: been there, hit that. I'm ready to try something new."

"Then go seduce an Italian because I am not interested!"

"There's no chase there; the chase is half the thrill that is you. I like the 'hard-to-get' girls."

"I'm not 'hard-to-get', I am 'impossible-to-get'!"

"That's what you say now," smirked the Swede. "You'll be singing a different tune before you know it."

"The only tune I'll be singing is your funeral march!" huffed Lily as she put on a final burst of speed to end the run.

Teddy didn't bother to increase his pace this time; he was enjoying watching Lily run from behind way too much.

"You are such a prick," Lily spat as Teddy strolled out of the forest. She was too smart not to guess what he was doing behind her.

"It's all part of my charm," he said jovially. Unlike Lily, he wasn't doubled over, panting and gasping for breath.

"What charm?" she gasped, sending him a death glare.

"The charm that is already starting to seduce you. Don't think I don't see how you look at me," he joked.

"I don't look at you of my own free will, but if I must look at you it's a glare that says I want to punch you!"

"Me thinks the lady doth protest too much."

"I'm warning you for the last time: don't mess with me!" she shouted as she turned around and stomped away from him. "And stop looking at my ass!"

Teddy chuckled and continued staring at her retreating form.

A young man called Freddie by most, looked at Teddy and said, "You're asking for trouble."

"And I am hoping that trouble is what I get," joked Teddy in response as he joined the young man in cool-down stretching.

"Somehow I doubt that you are going to get her," said Freddie.

"I'll get her," said Teddy positively. "It's only a matter of time."

"If you say so," said Freddie shrugging.

-----

"He is such a prat!" fumed Lily as she stormed into the suite she shared with three other girls and four boys.

"Teddy bothering you again?" asked Vicky as she towel-dried her hair. She was one of the many students who had never volunteered for physical exercise; as such, she and the majority of the school had already showered and changed into normal clothes by the time Lily returned from her run.

"Yes!" shouted Lily as she started stretching.

"I don't know why you don't just beat him up and get it over with," replied Anna easily.

"There's only one thing in her way," remarked Francesco. "Respect."

"Damn those fundamental principles," jested Ken. He, who looked remarkably like the American "Ken" doll and thus received the moniker from Vicky, and Francesco, who looked nothing like an Italian supermodel because he had a much darker complexion and different features owing to the fact that he was a native of Kenya, were constantly amused by Teddy's antics. They only wished that he was one of the four boys in their suite, so that they could see the encounters between Lily and Teddy firsthand.

"It's not funny Ken," said Lily as she gave him a friendly shove that resulted in him falling off of the armrest he had been sitting upon. "Now that's funny."

"You are interrupting my study time!" barked Angelica as she rushed out of her room and into the common area that all four bedrooms branched off of. She had received her name much like Francesco; it was ironic because her personality was nothing like an angel. She was solely focused upon book learning; she was entirely uninterested in any type of knowledge that was outside of written words. While her fellow roommates played cards or went out in the evenings, she stayed in the room she shared with Anna and read.

After Angelica had stomped back into her room and slammed the door, everyone rolled their eyes.

"I'm begging you," said Anna as she turned to her suitemates. "Will one of you please let me move into your room?"

The others laughed. Anna asked that same question at least four times a day, and every time she was turned down, not because the others didn't care that she had to suffer sharing a room with Angelica, but because there was no way that another bed would fit in the tight quarters that were their bedrooms.

"I'll even sleep on the floor!" she said desperately.

"Sorry Anna-banana," said Ken as he regained his former position on the armrest. "No can do."

"She's probably just nervous because everything's still new," said Francesco kindly. "I'm sure she'll become more relaxed with time."

"Doubt it," said Vicky in a sing-songy voice.

"Hey everyone!" called Tim in his booming voice as he entered the suite. He was an extremely large young man, the same size as Ken and Francesco put together, thus the nickname "Tiny Tim." He was also extremely motivated; although he was clearly not in shape, he went on the morning run and did his best every day. It took him much longer than his comrades, but he went as far as most of the others nonetheless.

"Hey Tim," they chorused. Everyone liked Tim; he was a big Canadian softie who was always ready with a smile and a dumb joke.

"Laurie's in the house!" said Lawrence as he stepped out from behind Tim. Lawrence was a Polish boy with classic Polish features: wavy blonde hair, extremely pale skin, and ice blue eyes. He was also extremely charismatic and he and Tim had bonded almost instantly. Everyday Laurie did his best on the run and then waited for Tim at the end, cheering for each person as they emerged from the woods. Although physically very different, the two young men were so alike they could have been brothers. After only a week as roommates, people were already joking that they must have been separated at birth.

"We still have to pick a team name," commented Anna as the boys settled down into the lounging area.

At the Institute the students were separated into teams of eight by their suite. There were twelve full teams and a thirteenth team that was comprised of the remaining four students, usually the two brightest women and the two brightest men. Each team selects their name during the two week adjustment period and then they are stuck with it for the next few years.

The students can earn points for their team by holding a record of some kind. However, the points are taken away if someone else breaks that record. The students can earn points as a team by competing in various contests such as team dueling, or academic or physical decathlons.

"The cool kids?" suggested Ken.

"The funny people?" joked Lily as she continued to stretch in the corner.

"The attractive team?" said Ken as he eyed Lily.

"Laftkalv?" suggested Vicky.

"What?" asked several people at once.

"It's our initials all put together, I can't help the fact that we are lacking vowels!" pouted Vicky, who thought her idea was very good.

"I like it," said Anna slowly, as she savored the idea.

"Me too," agreed Francesco. "I've heard some of the other team names and they are not as good as this."

"I know, eh?" said Laurie. "Today someone told me that his group name was 'The Rabid Wildebeests' and yesterday I heard about 'The Purple Onions.'"

"My favorite so far is 'The Smart Team.' Obviously if you're here you're smart," remarked Anna.

"I haven't heard of anyone that made up a word yet," commented Lily.

"How about 'The Attractive Laftkalvs'?" asked Ken jokingly.

"I love it!" gushed Vicky and Lily at the same time.

"That's fine with me," said Tim with a rumbling laugh.

"I'm in!" shouted Laurie exuberantly.

"Me too," said Anna.

Nodding his head, Francesco said, "I think it's very fitting seeing as we all are rather attractive people."

"Damn straight!" said Vicky as she punched the air to emphasize her point.

"Let's take an official vote," suggested Anna.

"Shouldn't we consult Angelica?" wondered Tim.

"Nose goes!" announced Vicky. Vicky had introduced 'nose goes' their first day, and the rest of the suite's occupants had quickly adopted the game. In the game when there was a task that no one wanted to do, someone would call out "nose goes" and the last person to put their finger to their nose would be obligated to complete the task.

"You lose Li-Mei!" announced Vicky triumphantly.

"But my knee was touching my nose," whined Lily. The name Li-Mei had stuck with her after everyone watched her time and time again be as nasty as can be to Teddy one minute, and as sweet as a flower to someone else the next. The 'pretty' part was obvious.

"Fingers only," said Anna, who was elated that she didn't have to deal with her roommate.

"Fine," said Lily as she jumped up from the floor and proceeded toward the door that led to Anna and Angelica's room. She knocked, let herself in and shut the door behind her. After about a minute there was some shouting which was followed by Lily quickly letting herself out of the room.

"She said she would prefer 'The Academic Elite Eight,'" Lily informed the group.

The group laughed.

"All in favor of 'The Attractive Laftkalvs' raise your hand," said Anna. After she counted to seven, she announced, "The Attractive Laftkalvs it is!"

"I would like to make a motion that no one tells anyone else what a 'Laftkalv' is," said Lily with a grin.

"All in favor," said Anna. "Motion passed unanimously!"

"I bet that no one will be able to guess what it is," said Ken with a large grin. "They'll drive themselves crazy trying to figure it out!"

"This is going to be great!" predicted Laurie.

"Well all you Laftkalvs, let's get moving; breakfast will be over in ten minutes," said Francesco.

"Grab me some sort of fruit," Lily requested as she darted into the room she and Vicky shared to grab her shower caddy and a change of clothes. Lily's roommates were accustomed to grabbing breakfast for Lily to eat in the few minutes before class because her runs took so long that she never had time to actually go to the hall to eat.

"I'm thinking waffles this morning," said Tim. Like Lily, he too didn't have enough time after his run to eat breakfast.

"With syrup or butter?" asked Laurie, who was in charge of getting breakfast for Tim. Laurie always showered directly after his run and then returned to the woods to wait for his buddy.

"I'm feeling like some syrup today," said Tim as he paused in the doorway to his room, his girth almost taking up the entire space.

"Want some bacon wrapped up in that?" asked Laurie, who was already known for the brilliant breakfast sandwiches he constructed for Tim.

"Yeah, and throw some eggs in while you're at it," requested Tim.

"I'm on it!" said Laurie as he saluted Tim and exited the suite. "Farewell Laftkalvs!"

The rest of the Laftkalvs followed, joking about their new name.

-----

"Hey guys," said Alice casually as she found Sirius and James trying to outdo each other while lifting weights. "A few of us were going to set up a dueling tournament. Only first years so we're pretty much all at the same level. A couple of the third years promised they would referee. You in?"

"Hell yes!" said James as he put down his weights.

"It's about time this baby got some action," said Sirius as he grabbed his wand and stroked its smooth and familiar wood.

"Great!" exclaimed Alice, her round face alight with excitement. "Go sign up with Henry on field three. Everything should be starting in a few minutes."

"See you there!" James and Sirius called as they grabbed their gear and scrambled out of the room.

Alice watched them go for a minute. She didn't know how it had happened but those two boys had wormed their way into her heart as surely as they have captured her best friend's heart. She had resisted at first; they were too loud, too gorgeous, too rich, too popular, and too messy for neat and sensible Alice. But Marly and Lily had been there to hold her hand as she got her feet wet in the infinite pool that is the Marauders and before she knew it she had dunked her head just as absolutely as her friends.

She had watched them the past two weeks scared by what they had become, yet clueless as to what she could do to help. They were quiet and serious and once again Alice felt like she needed an instruction booklet to know how to act around them. She heard her classmates whisper about the two, and she wanted to stand up and scream that they were the best friends anyone could ask for- loyal and brave and funny and kind- and everyone should just leave them bloody well alone, but her courage failed her. For the first time in seven years she didn't have her two pillars of strength beside her and she was afraid of being alone, so she said nothing. She said nothing and a little bit of her died. She tried to console herself by saying that she was just a girl and none of the boys would listen to her anyway, that she was just a girl, outnumbered by the male dominated field and wouldn't make a difference, but she still felt as if she was betraying the two men she had grown to love.

She loved them for what they had done for Lily. They had coaxed her out of her shell, kept her secrets, and convinced her of her worth in a way that she and Marlene never could. She and Marlene had kept Lily alive, but James and Sirius had given her her life back. For that she would be eternally grateful.

Alice smiled softly; the two men had long since left her sight, but their presence still lingered. Finally she turned and went to recruit more people for the tournament.

The tournament went well. All twenty-nine first year trainees showed up to prove themselves and gauge the talent of their comrades. Most of the upper level trainees as well as the instructors showed up to watch.

Alice did well, making it to the quarterfinals and surprising many of her classmates. They had severely underestimated the slightly chubby and short girl with the kind face and gentle curls. That facilitated many easy wins for the girl who had learned to hold her own against Marlene and Lily, her fierce and talented friends. In her last match she fought a man from Bulgaria named Mihail; he was twice her size and seemed extremely fierce as he immediately launched into a fury of attacks.

As Alice dodged and threw up shields to protect herself she remembered what Lily had said as she had watched a duel between Alice and Marlene. Impatient Marlene had done exactly what Mihail was attempting; she had cast several spells in rapid succession hoping one would hit and then when one did she launched more while Alice was down. Marlene won without allowing Alice to ever respond. Lily had quietly told Alice that while that strategy may seem impressive and scary and could be effective if one didn't know how to counter it, really it was to mask the caster's fear and inadequacy. Lily had then told Alice to just wait out the attack and look for the opportune moment to cast one really good spell. After being pulled to her feet by Lily, Alice went back up against Marlene, and while she was beaten again, she landed a few good hexes that time. She only improved with time and developed a strategy of her own to combat Marlene-esque fighters.

Alice used those skills she had cultivated during those many hours spent with Lily and Marlene sharpening their skills and reviewing spells for their N..s. As she concentrated on protecting herself she felt a pang of grief; she missed her best friend. The Auror Academy was a strange and intimidating place and Alice wished that Lily was there to make it familiar. Lily also always subconsciously took the spotlight, which allowed Alice to step back and watch. Alice was comfortable with shadows, but here there was no one to hide behind; she had to stand in her own sunlight and she wasn't sure how to handle it without getting burned.

Finally Alice saw her opening. She silently cast _Expeliarmus_, thinking of how Marlene had spent hours practicing silent spells with her because she had such trouble with them. She made a mental note to write to Marlene to thank her because the spell hit and worked. Her opponent's wand soared out of his reach and into her hand. Then thinking that she had won, Alice turned around to walk out of the battle area. That was a mistake.

As soon as she turned her back to the man he ran and tackled her. He grabbed the wand that rolled out of her hand and pressed its tip to her neck.

Alice panicked; she couldn't breathe and she was so shocked that she was suddenly on the ground and losing. The pain that extended over much of her body also clouded her vision. She could feel her hands and face start to become wet and sticky; she assumed that it was blood oozing from the cuts she had received as she had slid along the rocky ground. Dimly she registered the crowd's cheer as her opponent was proclaimed the winner.

"Alice?" asked a soft yet deep voice. "Alice can you hear me?"

Alice took a shuddering breath and choked back a scream. Tears began leaking from her eyes.

"Alice, my name is Frank Longbottom; I'm going to take you to the infirmary now," said the calm voice.

As she was picked up and carried off the field in the strong and able arms of Frank Longbottom, Alice dimly thought that she was turning into Lily. Then she blacked out.

Meanwhile Frank was concentrating solely on not tripping or dropping the girl in his arms. He was known for his clumsiness and he just hoped that every ounce of grace that he usually possessed while fighting could somehow be mustered in this moment. Frank's humble plea was heard; he even managed to lay Alice on the simple hospital cot without jostling her.

It was then he was able to really take her in. He sat by her side as the healer attended to her injuries and just looked at her. Although he had promised Lily he would look after this girl, he really hadn't had much time to do much more than pass her in the gym or see her from across the mess hall. She had always looked happy and safe so he hadn't paid too much attention. To further ease his conscience for not actually talking to the girl he had kept an ear out to make sure none of his male classmates were bothering her.

Now he was studying her intently. He already knew that she had curly blonde hair, but up close it looked very soft and appealing, even though it was a bit dirty from the fight. Her hair also smelled tantalizing; the sweet scent of strawberries seemed to taunt Frank, inviting him closer and closer. Common sense stopped him; he didn't know anything about this girl. For all he knew she could have a boyfriend.

He jerked his head backward, away from Alice's hair, and tried to content himself with staring at her face. Since the Healer had started with her facial injuries, Frank was free to see her face in its normal state. The first thing that he noticed was her nose. Some critics may have said that it was a bit too big for a lady, but Frank didn't mind. In fact he thought that the way it curved up at the end was very cute. His gaze only remained on her lips for a moment, but his quick surveillance told him that they were rosy and full.

Slowly his gaze roamed over the rest of her features, taking in every aspect. Frank had never felt such a magnetic connection before. Even after the Healer finished and assured Frank that she would be fine when she woke up in the morning, Frank continued to sit in the uncomfortable wooden chair next to her cot and rubbed soothing circles into the back of her hand as he watched her sleep. A herd of rampaging hippogriffs couldn't have moved him from that spot.

-----

"Next up is Potter and O'Brien," announced Henry, the organizer of the event. "Whoever wins this will go up against Mihail Petkov in the semi-finals."

James and Mick O'Brien coolly surveyed each other as they bowed and prepared to attack. Mick was one to shoot his mouth off. The very first day of classes he had informed all of his classmates that he had been privately tutored in his mansion in the outskirts of Dublin and the next year would be a breeze for him. Since that day James had heard many other of Mick's boasts at meals and in the barracks. Privately he hoped he had never been so cocky and arrogant as the Irishman.

"So Potter, did daddy's name get you this far in the competition just like it's gotten you this far in training?" asked Mick mockingly.

James was shocked for a moment, but then he shrugged it off and fired back a taunt of his own. "I've seen you in the gym O'Brien and from what I've seen I'm amazed that you have had the strength to lift your wand this whole time. Maybe daddy should have bought you some muscles when he bought you that brain."

Hot-tempered Mick didn't need another excuse to begin the fight. He shot off spells quickly, but lacked in power. His aim was also poor, though what he lacked in accuracy he made up for in quantity. James spent the first few minutes of their duel merely dodging the spells; he didn't even bother conjuring up a shield. He grinned as he saw how flustered Mick was getting that he could simply outmaneuver him.

The whole time he was remembering a conversation he had had when he first joined the Quidditch team his second year. He had asked the seeker, a sixth year name Dan, how he could possibly catch something as small as the snitch, never mind beat someone there. Dan had replied that it was all about maneuvering. He said that he always watched how the other seeker flew for the first half of the game; then when it came time to fly against him he could predict how he would act and use it to his advantage. Although Dan had a slower and older broom than the three seekers he played against, he always outmaneuvered them and beat them to the snitch.

Although James wasn't chasing the snitch, he was after something just as elusive- victory. After watching Mick for a few minutes he saw how he operated. Then James was ready to launch his counterattack. A few well-cast spells sent Mick flying; he lacked the reflexes of a seasoned Quidditch player and his hastily cast shield had none of the power required to block James's few effective spells.

Mick jumped up with a fire in his eyes. He renewed his assault with twice the firepower. He shot off a volley of spells simultaneously, and in the second before the majority of them hit James, James was impressed. Then James was on his back mentally cursing as he struggled to remain conscious after being hit with three strength-sapping hexes.

"For Christmas you should ask for some skill," said Mick smarmily as he stood over James who was still gasping for breath and strength. Mick stomped on James's wand hand, which was twitching as it tried to gather enough strength to fire off another spell. "This ends now. _Stupefy_."

"Tough break mate," said Sirius quietly. While Mick was being declared the winner he had awoken James and helped him off the field.

"I think my wrist is broken," James ground out as he tried to move it.

"I grabbed your wand," Sirius informed him as he handed it to him. "You had better head to the infirmary."

"I'll watch your match first," said James like the loyal friend he was. "You had better win because someone has to represent Gryffindor in the final."

"For Gryffindor," said Sirius seriously as he nodded once.

"Levicorpus," James whispered as Sirius walked by him.

Sirius grinned and nodded again. Then he went out into the battle area where Mick was still enjoying the applause of the crowd.

"Alright O'Brien why don't you step out of the ring and let some real duelists compete," said Sirius as he approached the megalomaniac.

"Real duelist?" scoffed Mick. "I just beat your friend using pure skill and strength!"

Sirius smirked. "You may have beaten James this one time, which I'm going to put down to good luck and a lucky hit, but I doubt you would EVER be able to beat even James's girlfriend."

"You don't think I'd be able to beat a girl?" asked Mick skeptically. Sirius's opponent, a burly woman named Tina, immediately took offense to this, but was restrained by the nearby trainees; they wanted to see where this fight would go. "Where is she? I'll beat her right here, right now!"

"She's not here at the Academy," said Sirius.

"She's not even a _trained_ girl?!" laughed Mick. "Name your stakes because I'd be willing to bet ANYTHING that I can beat her."

Sirius cast a glance back at James; he wasn't sure what to ask for. "Your entire chocolate frog card collection." Sirius had heard Mick brag just that morning that his collection was worth over ten thousand galleons.

Stupidly Mick didn't even bother to consider that he shouldn't so readily accept a bet that his opponent was so sure he would win. He probably should have found out some details about Lily before he agreed. For example the fact that she was at the International Institute for Incredibly Talented Wizards or that she had a perfect score on all of her N.E.W.T.s. "Alright," he said cockily. "And when I win I want every galleon you have."

Mick probably should have done some more research about the Black family. His father was a wealthy merchant and often did business with the Black family. Therefore Mick assumed that they were rich and so their son would also be rich. He should have paid more attention to what other people said instead of just listening to himself. Then he would have found out that Sirius had been disowned and didn't have a sickle to his name.

"I can't wager my family's money," said Sirius thoughtfully, pretending that he actually cared about losing his family's wealth. "But I bet every coin I have in my personal vault that Lily Evans, James's girlfriend, can beat you in a duel."

"Deal," said Mick firmly. He shook Sirius's hand and then Sirius said, "Good, now get off the field."

Mick sauntered off the field, totally enthralled by the millions of galleons he was convinced would be added to his vault very shortly.

"Don't go easy on me because I'm a girl," Tina told Sirius sternly. As soon as he had finished with Mick he had turned around and jumped when he saw that Tina was merely centimeters away from his face. She was one intense woman.

"I wouldn't dream of it; I know what women are capable of," he said in a slightly flirtatious voice.

"Save it Black," spat the aggressive woman. "Let's do this."

"Alright," said Sirius backing up a step while holding his hands out in a placating way. This woman was already furious at him and he hadn't even done anything yet. She reminded him of Marlene, except Marlene had had a motive to be nasty to him.

Tina turned sharply and took her place, while Sirius focused himself and walked to his place too. The pair bowed and while Tina seemed like she was going to take the time to check him out, Sirius was as impatient as always and he fired a strong spell right off the bat.

Tina, who hadn't been expecting the attack, barely had enough time to construct a hasty shield. She glared at Sirius as the shield shimmered and then disappeared as the spell hit. Reminding Sirius of Lily, when Tina was hurt she instantly jumped to anger. She fired off three spells in rapid succession. Sirius dodged them easily. He wasn't as fast or as graceful as James (though during discussions like those he merely brought up the fact that his _hair_ was much more graceful than James's) but he was still able to escape the spells and grin cockily about it.

The grin, the grin that made girls swoon and teachers grimace, really set Tina off. The volley of curses and hexes that she set his way only made Sirius grin. He was glad that he could still affect girls, could bother them like this. After Marlene he had been afraid to get into another relationship because she was so bloody sensitive he didn't want to lose her as a friend and thus ruin the dynamic of their group of friends. Also they still snogged occasionally, so he was somewhat satisfied in that department.

Sirius dodged a few more spells and then surprised Tina by actually decreasing the distance between them. He rushed at her and zig-zagged to her right side and then rolled into a crouch. Then he fired off a few hexes and smiled as the spells didn't go through her shield, just around it. She dropped to the ground and the battle was finished. She hadn't even seen it coming.

Sirius was like that; he did the unexpected. No one expected him to be sorted into Gryffindor, to make friends with a Potter, to run away from home, to befriend Lily, to have a steady girlfriend, or to go to the Auror Academy. He had done all that and so much more.

Sirius went on to the semi-finals but was defeated. However he did go out in a blaze of glory. He had cast a levicorpus and was laughing so hard as Mihail thrashed around while being suspended in midair by his ankle, that he didn't see the stunning spell coming toward him. Lesson learned: no laughing until the opponent is dead or stunned.

**A/N. Well hello again! How was your chapter 49 experience? I can't wait to hear about it! Here are some questions for you:**

**Were you surprised by how James and Sirius were acting at the beginning of the chapter? At the end?**

**Were you surprised by the outcomes of the duels and the dueling styles of the auror trainees?**

**Who do you think will win the epic battle between O'Brien and Evans?**

**What do you think of the name that Lily's team picked?**

**What do you think of dear Teddy? Of the Laftkalvs?**

**What do you think of the Auror Academy and the Institute so far? **

**What do you think of the fluff between Frank and Alice?**

**What are the song lyrics in this chapter, plus name of the artist and title of the song? I am prepared to name a character after anyone who can guess all three (the name of a future Marauder girlfriend for the first correct response)!**

**Well that's it for now! I look forward to hearing from each and every one of you! **


	50. OPA Grows

**Hello Readers and Happy Holidays! This chapter is my gift to you and hopefully your reviews will be a gift to me! (FYI There is another chapter written, I just need some motivation to edit and post it ;) ). **

**Enjoy the chapter!**

**-AAA**

**P.S. Thank you to those of you who noticed my substantial and repeated typo in the last chapter that BOTH of my betas didn't see. I have profusely apologized to Francesco and he and his attorney have decided that upon correction of this oversight I will be forgiven, much to my relief. **

**P.P.S. This is the 50****th**** chapter! Oh My Merlin! Thank you to those of you who have stuck by me from the beginning- through writer's block, long pauses, and crazy drama that made you want to pull your hair out. And to those of you who have just joined this little boat of gushy fluff, heart-wrenching emotion, and grueling drama, welcome and I hope you stick by me for the next 50 chapters!**

_Dearest Lily, Oct. 23_

_ Another boring week in this place I fondly call hell. I can't wait until the first term is over! After the holiday we're allowed to leave on the weekends! With only two months to go I can almost smell the freedom. It doesn't get me any closer to you, but at least I'll be able to do something other than twiddle my thumbs while thinking about/ writing to you. Who am I kidding? I'll probably be thinking about/ writing to you only then it will be somewhere else. That's the summary of my pathetic existence. _

_ Oh a higher note, Sirius did something rather amusing yesterday. There's this girl named Tina (you remember the one Sirius dueled and beat) and she has a bit of a temper (kind of like yours- very dangerous and highly explosive, and I mean that in the nicest way) and he likes to take advantage of that fact (he swears he doesn't fancy her but I used to bait you in a very similar way…). Anyway yesterday we were just minding our own business in the gym exercising when she came in. Sirius knows that she's really sensitive about sexism and whatnot so he challenged her to a weight lifting competition saying that men can naturally lift more weight than women can. _

_ As always she rose to the occasion screaming at him for being a pig, prat, etc. and accepted his challenge. He easily lifted his barbell, but she struggled with hers and had to admit defeat. By this time a huge crowd had gathered to watch (the two of them are almost as legendary as you and I were at Hogwarts) and it killed her but she had to admit defeat. Sirius bragged for a bit, but not as much as usual and was in the process of making a hasty escape when Tina, thinking that something was a bit weird about the whole thing, (she's too smart for her own good- also like you) tried lifting Sirius's barbell and found that it had been magically altered so that it was no heavier than a feather. Hers of course had been made ten times heavier- an impossible weight. _

_ She shrieked like a banshee for almost a whole minute while Sirius started bolting out of there. She was livid. Unfortunately for Sirius she caught him. Poor lad hasn't been able to walk straight since. I thought it was all quite amusing and even as I'm writing this I can't help but laugh. Sirius is glaring at me, probably because he knows what I'm writing about. He's writing a letter to Marlene right now, but I don't doubt that he'll start a letter for you soon. It's likely that he'll tell you he was the victim of the story; it's all codswallop- don't believe a word he writes- ever. It's a rule I've lived by and it's served me pretty well over the years. _

_ And now I'll indulge you in a telling of my classes this week since you are so oddly interested in what mundane facts they are force-feeding us here in hell. In Auror History we've made it through the first thousand years of the ancient Egyptian Aurors; next week we're supposedly starting work on the ancient Mayan Aurors… how… riveting. In Auror Protocol we are almost finished with learning what training is going to be like after the Academy; it promises to be a whole new circle in what appears to be everlasting hell. In Magical Theory we're still covering the basics behind wordless incantations. I know you find the whole subject fascinating but I find it bloody boring! Who cares __**why**__ we can do something as long as we can do it? Defense Against the Dark Arts is as boring as ever. I swear we learned more useful stuff back in our second year at Hogwarts! _

_That's pretty much it… pathetic I know. _

_Love always,_

_James_

_P.S. 55 days until you are back in my arms again._

_ Oct. 30_

_To my one true love Sirius (if you're reading this know I'm just kidding James)-_

_Teddy is still giving me crap! I have tried ignoring him, yelling at him, subtly hexing him, making him look like an idiot, and physically hurting him and nothing works! I don't know what to do… It's not that big of a deal, but I feel weird about it, especially since I haven't told James about him. I know you think it's wrong, but I can't thank you enough for keeping my secret. I just feel like knowing would hurt James, and make him feel more insecure about me being so far away. If things got serious I would tell him I swear. _

_But enough about me- let's talk about you! I hear there's this girl named Tina…? According to James she's your version of me. I don't know if that's true or not, but if it is, my one piece of advice is to not give up. I mean it. Even if she tells you to give up, don't. Ever. _

_Well I have to go learn some stuff… write back soon! I always look forward to hearing from you!_

_ XOXO_

_ Lily_

_ Nov. 8_

_Dear Lily,_

_ My life is so utterly boring I cannot even begin to describe it accurately. Let me put it this way- the highlight of my week was when we got a new shipment of potions thesauruses. I have reached a new level of low. I appreciate the fact that I have a job, but I can't help but envy James and Sirius and you of course. You are all off meeting new people and learning new things, training for jobs that will challenge and satisfy you, and I am dusting bookshelves while living with my parents. Visiting my sick German aunt (or was it Hungarian grandmother?) is difficult without the Marauders to accompany me. It's been hard on my parents too; my mum has always been particularly burdened by the whole situation, but now I feel as if it is almost too much for her. I want to move out, but my condition and lack of money make that so difficult._

_I can't wait to see you and everyone else at Christmas time. Right now that is what I am living for. Life just isn't the same when you aren't surrounded by friends._

_ Remus_

_To my darling Lily-kins, Nov. 16_

_ You know that Frank guy I have been telling you about? Well today he asked me if I wanted to have dinner with him! I know that it's only dinner in the mess hall, but since he's a third year he could go home or out for the weekend, but instead he wants to be with me! I'm so excited I can barely write! All week long he has been following me, but whenever I turn around he pretends that he isn't. Marlene says that it's a good sign and however silly it may be I believe her! I can't believe this Lily- my first romance!_

_Oh my Merlin. My first romance!!! He's so much older, probably totally experienced and knows exactly what to do and I am a completely pathetic loser who has never even been kissed before! I bet he'll be able to tell the moment we sit down for dinner. I'll do something wrong and he'll dump me for sure! I don't even know if we're even actually dating!!! He only asked me to sit with him at dinner in the mess hall; it's not like it's out of our way and I mean we both have to end up there for dinner! He probably just asked me because he feels sorry for me! Or maybe he just wants to talk to me about auror stuff and dinner was convenient for him… _

_Oh I'm so completely miserable at this! You would think that after watching you and Marlene I would have picked up some tips. But no, I don't know what to say or what to wear or what to do! What if he tries to kiss me and I do the wrong thing and then he thinks I don't like him?!?!? We've only had a few conversations in the last couple of weeks and none that long, but I already like him so much (and I'm talking like like here!!!). _

_And now I'm rambling… just like I do when he's around! I'm not nearly as interesting as you or Marlene; it's no wonder no one has ever shown interest in me before! He probably only likes me because there are so few girls here and he hasn't met you or Marlene. Who in their right mind would choose plain, simple, sensible Alice with dull dirty blonde hair and poop brown eyes, when they could have an either of you two beauties?! _

_Please help me Lily! The date (if it even is a date!) is in four days! I'm asking Sweetie to fly as fast as she can, but I doubt she'll get to you faster than two days, so please respond ASAP! I know that you could probably spend your time feeding the hungry in Africa, or learning how to be in two places at once, but please, I NEED YOU like I've never needed you before!_

_ Alice _

_My darling Alice, Nov. 19_

_ You are a beautiful, sensitive, engaging and loving woman. You are also as smart as hell! And a damn good duelist that could give any man a run for his money! You can and will do this date-like dinner thing. Although personally I think it is a date, you can keep it casual if you want and not call it a "date." Don't worry about being anything or anyone but your innocent and adorable self. I don't know Frank all that well, but he comes from a good family and has always seemed like a kind gentleman. (He carried you all the way to the infirmary!!! That is so cute and gentlemanly!) And don't worry about not knowing what to do when it comes to kissing- no one knows their first time, but like I said Frank is a gentleman so everything will be fine. It may be a little awkward (I know my first kiss was!) but you have to have your first kiss in order to get to the good stuff! If you're really worried about it you could always ask Sirius to kiss you- I'm sure he would be more than happy to oblige! :D Then you would have that nasty first kiss business over with and be able to join the long long long list of girls that have kissed Sirius Black. Among the girls in the department here that is truly a claim to fame! (Those silly ninnies- he's not all __**that**__ attractive honestly…)Just don't kiss James, whatever you do! Lily has written me and told me she forgives me, but I just feel like she'll take it back when she sees me at Christmas. I still start blushing whenever I think about what I did. I don't know how I would have lived with myself if they had broken up! Are you really sure you want to get into all this relationship mess? Just kidding. It has it's ups and downs, but there are usually more ups than downs, and if that isn't true then you need to get out of that relationship. Oh and I meant to tell you this already- you should wear your purple sweater, the thinner one not the thicker one. It's pretty and brings out the color of your eyes, yet it's casual enough that if Frank doesn't mean anything serious by this (which I'm 99% sure is NOT the case) then you don't look silly. And leave your hair down. Wear some earrings. Don't put on any makeup- you're very pretty without it! But do put on some perfume, at your wrists and the back of your neck, and a light spritz on your hair. I'm so excited for you!!! I wish I could be there to witness this monumental event! I would tell the boys to keep an eye on you so they could give me the details later, but as you well know- they are useless. Sirius doesn't pay attention to anything other than his hair and James doesn't see anything or anyone other than Lily. I really need to find someone, but not just anyone. I want a James like Lily has. Well that's enough whining for one letter! I hope that Frank is your James and I can't wait for all the details! (And by all I mean __**all**__- __especially__ the gory graphic ones!)_

_My little Alice is growing up!!!_

_Love always, _

_Marlene _

_To the genius I am honored to know, Nov. 30_

_ I really think that you should tell James about this Teddy bloke. He sounds like he is up to no good, and as a bloke who often has ignoble intentions himself, it's just going to get worse (like it has been.) James is a fairly decent duelist; he practices with some of the other guys and myself a couple of times every week, so I wouldn't be surprised if he could take this guy on. Yeah I know he's a genius like you, but James has some greater to fight for. And you know he would leap at the chance to "fight for your honor/favor." He loves all that romantic crap as much as he may pretend not to. It's almost pathetic how deeply in love with you he is. He probably hasn't mentioned this because he likes to seem all macho and unaffected, but as his best mate I feel like I have the right to abuse him as often and in any way that I can, so I will tell you that he has a countdown going to the day when he sees you again. I know he is a pansy, but he's still my best mate, though it's times like this when I wonder why. _

_Oh and I think I failed to mention that I would like to take a piece out of this Teddy bloke myself. No one messes with my genius and gets away with it! _

_Love,_

_Sirius _

_(that amazingly attractive and charming devil that __**you**__ are honored to know)_

_P.S. Lils- I know how you have a tendency to get yourself into trouble. Please, I am begging you, keep yourself safe for another couple of weeks, for all of our sakes. James worries enough about you as it is; if you were hurt or in any sort of danger I'm pretty sure he would explode. Then there would be pieces of James guts all over the place and it's somewhere in my job description as his best mate that I would be the one to clean up the mess. I hate cleaning so don't make me do it!_

_Remus- Dec. 12 _

_ I am so excited for Christmas. It's going to be a lot of fun to see you and all of the guys again. We should get a drink sometime. Us working lads should stick together. I found a date to James's mum's Christmas Eve Party. What about you?_

_ Peter._

And then there was Christmas:

"I'm home!" Lily called out as she walked into the foyer of Potter mansion. She truly did feel as if she was home; just being on the grounds of the Potter estate removed a burden from her heart. It was like going to sleep after a really long day.

She dropped her bags and then began grinning like a fool as she heard footsteps all over the mansion.

Mrs. Potter, who had been organizing the decorations in the ballroom, arrived first. In a flurry of activity she rushed out of the ballroom, nearly knocking over a house elf in the process.

"Lily!" she cried gleefully as she wrapped Lily in an enormous hug. "I've missed you so much and I'm so glad that you're home!"

"Me too," said Lily quietly as she allowed herself to simply sink into the embrace. She hadn't been hugged like this in a very long time and she was nearly overwhelmed by the wave of love that was washing over her.

"Lily! I thought I heard your voice," said Remus calmly as he descended the stairs. Although he sought to keep his cool, it was obvious from the smile that threatened to split his careworn and tired face in two, that he was more than happy that Lily had arrived. "It's good to see you."

As soon as Mrs. Potter released her, Lily laughed delicately and ran over to Remus. She caught him off guard as she threw her arms around him, the force of it nearly knocking both of them to the ground.

Remus laughed and bending his head, whispered, "I've missed you."

"I'm so glad I'm home," said Lily emotionally. "I missed you so much."

"I bet you missed me more," joked Sirius as he emerged from the direction of the kitchen where he had been taste-testing for the house elves.

"Sirius!" cried Lily as she let go of Remus and sprinted over to her other friend.

He caught her easily and spun her around in several circles until he finally put her down and enveloped her in a big hug.

"You look as beautiful as ever," he commented as he held her out at arm's length. "Though a bit snowy," he added as he brushed snow off of the top of her hat, which had somehow remained attached through all of her running and spinning.

"Is that Lily we hear?" asked Alice as she appeared at the top of the staircase with Marlene only a few steps behind her.

"Alice!" exclaimed Lily excitedly. "I though you weren't going to be here until tomorrow?!"

"Surprise!" called Alice as she rushed down the stairs and into her best friend's embrace.

Marlene walked down the stairs and hesitantly stood at their base.

After thoroughly hugging Alice, Lily looked up and saw Marlene standing there. Her face became impassive as she let go of Alice and began to cross the hall. Marlene averted her eyes, afraid of what she wasn't quite sure.

"Oh Marlene," breathed Lily. "I told you all was forgiven. Why are you hesitating?"

"It's different on paper than in real life; I was half afraid that you were making me let my guard down so you could kill me when I was least expecting it," Marlene joked weakly.

Lily didn't comment, only wrapped her arms around her friend's torso and squeezed in a purely friendly way. Then she quipped, "If I was going to kill you I would have had you meet me in Diagon Alley where I would have led you down a dark alleyway… just kidding! Really, all is forgiven."

"I'm so glad," said Marlene sniffling. "I can't imagine life without you!"

"Nor I you," Lily told her lovingly.

"So tell us all about school!" Mrs. Potter prompted as Lily led Marlene into the small circle that had congregated in the entrance hall.

"It is truly remarkable; I can't imagine being anywhere else! My professors are excellent, and the classes are so exciting," gushed Lily.

"Mum?" called a familiar voice.

"In the hallway dear," answered Mrs. Potter as the group fell silent.

"The house elves are saying something about Lily being home…" stated James as he walked toward his mother's location. "Bloody hell!"

"It's so nice to see-" Lily was abruptly cut off by the arrival of James's mouth.

Sirius later described the scene by using the metaphor of a grindylow assaulting an innocent swimmer.

The chemistry was intense and immediate between the two. The surrounding group had a hard time even looking in their general direction because the emotion between them was so raw and powerful to witness it was to be an interloper.

Not a word was spoken as James lifted his love up and carried her upstairs.

"Well I don't think we'll be seeing _them_ anytime soon," commented Sirius as a door closed upstairs.

Mrs. Potter drifted away, uncomfortable, as the teenagers laughed and made some more crude and insinuating remarks about her son.

Hours passed. No one heard from or saw Lily and James. No one was surprised. Dinner came.

"Sirius be a dear and go see if Lily and James are going to come down for dinner," requested Mrs. Potter as both teens failed to appear at the table.

"Sure thing," said Sirius as he excused himself, a wide grin on his face.

While rapping quite loudly and obnoxiously on James's closed (and locked- he had already tried opening it) door, he called, "Prongs?! Are you planning on coming up for air anytime soon? Dinner is ready and somehow the rest of us have been able to restrain ourselves and show up at the table **fully clothed**."

"He can't hear us," Lily told James once Sirius kept talking even though they responded to his inquiries.

"You are too good at silencing charms for your own good," whispered James as he returned to his previous activity of kissing Lily's very sensitive collarbone.

She moaned appreciatively, but both of them were slightly distracted by Sirius's incessant talking.

"He could stand there all night," Lily pointed out.

James groaned in frustration. He rolled off of Lily to the side of his bed next to the nightstand with some parchment and a quill.

_We're not hungry._

He scrawled quickly. Lily reading over his shoulder, took the quill after him, and added in her neat cursive:

_For food._

James laughed heartily and pinned Lily back against the pillows as the enchanted piece of paper floated under the crack in the door and up to Sirius's hand.

As Sirius read the note he erupted with his characteristic bark-like laughter.

"They won't be joining us tonight," Sirius informed the table as he returned.

Mrs. Potter was somewhat at a loss as to what to do. She wished that Christopher were home; he would take charge and make a decision. Should she allow James to continue doing whatever he had been doing for the past five hours or should she demand that he come to dinner? Christopher would certainly vote for the latter, but her kinder instincts made her think that it wouldn't be so bad to allow James to catch up with the girlfriend he hadn't seen in four months.

"Remus, can you please go tell my son and Lily that I wasn't really asking if they were coming down for dinner, and that I expect them both to be down here and decent within five minutes?" asked Marilyn coolly. _Enough was enough_.

"Absolutely," responded Remus.

"Ummm… Prongs? Lily?" asked Remus, his hesitant knock reflecting his hesitant tone. "Mrs. Potter says that you both have to come down to dinner. Now. And you have to be decent."

"Why does my mum hate me?" James asked rhetorically.

Lily slid away from James and begrudgingly got off of his very comfortable bed, but didn't get very far. James simply couldn't resist pulling her back for one last kiss.

"I'm not going very far," laughed Lily as she broke off the kiss that had the potential to last much longer than they had time for. "I'll even sit next to you at dinner."

"How about you sit on my lap," suggested James roguishly as he watched Lily try to find her discarded clothing.

"How about we don't push our luck," Lily fired back as she succeeded in finding her hat, coat, mittens, and shirt, but was missing one other important piece of clothing…

"Looking for something?" asked James loftily as he used two fingers to lift up the strap of the missing bra.

Lily rolled her eyes and held out her hand.

"I don't think so," he said, his eyes shining. "You'll have to take it from me."

"If you insist," acceded Lily as she jumped on top of James. After a short but sweet tussle Lily emerged victorious. It was evident by the smirk on James's face however, that he had gotten what he wanted as well.

"Are you going to get up any time soon?" asked Lily as she arched an eyebrow.

"In order for me to be 'decent' I'm going to need to take a very very cold shower," answered James.

Lily laughed, rather pleased with herself, as she combed her fingers through her hair and put it up in a messy bun to hide James's handiwork.

"Am I presentable now?" Lily asked lightly as she did a slow turn for her boyfriend.

James laughed. "You were smart to wear a turtleneck sweater."

Lily blushed as she replied, "Don't you think I know how your mind goes by now?"

"My mind is not responsible for that," joked James.

As Lily opened the door and stepped out into the hallway, James called, "Tell my mother to start without me and that I'll be down in a few minutes." Then James gave a jaunty wave to his best mate, who was looking at him in an almost disapproving way.

"Hi Remus," said Lily quickly, trying to dissolve some of the awkwardness that was a given when Remus was forced to think about what two people he had known since he was eleven had just been doing.

"Hi Lily," laughed Remus.

There was a bit of tension when Lily arrived at the dining room table, but that quickly dissolved as she launched into a tale about Tim and Laurie becoming fused together during one Charms experiment gone wrong.

"Yes Randolph?" asked Mrs. Potter as she acknowledged the oldest and most stringent Potter house elf who was standing respectfully in the doorway to the dining room.

"Lily has a visitor," he drawled nasally.

Lily looked startled for a moment, and Sirius looked at her questioningly, but then she relaxed and slightly shook her head, signaling to him that she didn't need to be accompanied. "Excuse me," she said quietly as she rose from the table and gracefully exited.

A few moments later she returned and said, "Remus, I have a Christmas present for you that was just delivered earlier than anticipated."

Annoyed, Marilyn interrupted, "Can't it wait? We're in the middle of dinner."

"I apologize Mrs. Potter, but it can't wait another minute," said Lily sheepishly.

"Fine," huffed Mrs. Potter.

"Come on Remus," said Lily excitedly as she fairly well pulled him from his seat. "Close your eyes!"

Remus did as he was told and then asked, "Lily what's going on?"

"You'll see in a minute," she said impatiently as she positioned him in the entrance hall. "Now stay put and hold your arms out in front of you palms up. I'm going to put your present in your arms and it's kind of heavy, but also rather delicate so don't drop it!"

"What the hell is it?" asked Remus suspiciously.

A minute later his question was answered when Lily ended her levitation spell and plopped Vicky into Remus's waiting arms.

His eyes opened in shock as he struggled to stabilize himself.

"I told you I'd be back," sang Vicky as she smiled at him. "Miss me?"

"Merlin's balls!" was the only thing that came to Remus's mind.

Vicky laughed, her pealing and sharp giggles cutting through the air and making Remus's heart beat irregularly.

Lily jumped up and down like a small child. She had been planning this surprise for Remus for weeks, knowing that Vicky wouldn't last long in her own home and would take the offer that Mrs. Potter had communicated through Lily.

"How? What? Why? How did you-?" asked the ever realistic Remus.

Lily and Vicky laughed. "Vicky and I are roommates at the Institute," explained Lily. "And she gets along with her family much like I get along with mine. I asked Mrs. Potter if she was willing to take in another orphan and she wholeheartedly agreed!"

"But I wanted to try things with my family first- see if they had cooled down any since September when they sent me a Howler threatening to cut me off completely if I didn't come home at once. It only took me about five hours to realize that they hadn't, so I came here!" continued Vicky.

"Happy Christmas!" finished Lily.

"I don't think anyone has ever given me a person for Christmas before," joked Remus.

"Aw Lily you copycat! I was going to get Remus a girl for Christmas too!" said James who was still toweling his hair dry as he walked down the stairs to join his family for dinner.

"Glad to see you're as arrogant as ever Potter," quipped Vicky.

"Glad to see you're as rude and freakish as ever," James fired back with a smirk.

"Can't we all just get along?" asked Remus jokingly to no one in particular.

"Where would the fun be in that?" asked Vicky rhetorically. "Now put me down because I'm starving and something smells fabulous."

"As you wish," said Remus sweetly.

James gagged audibly and obnoxiously.

"You come with me," ordered Lily as she grabbed James by the arm.

"Anytime anywhere Love," said James flirtatiously.

Lily rolled her eyes and clarified. "Come with me to **dinner** with your **mother**."

"That's not _exactly_ what I had in mind, but it will do," admitted James as he allowed himself to be pulled along.

Remus shook his head at his best mate's antics and said to Vicky, "You're lucky you weren't here when they first saw each other; now _that_ was something worth gagging over."

"Everyone, this is Vicky, Vicky this is Mrs. Potter, Sirius, Marlene, and Alice. Peter isn't here yet, he had to work until tomorrow afternoon, but you'll likely see him tomorrow night," said Lily graciously as Vicky entered.

By the time Lily finished speaking Mrs. Potter had already cross the room and given Vicky a warm hug. "I take it things didn't go well with your family?"

"As of today I am officially and irrevocably disowned," Vicky stated.

"I'm thinking I should start a club," commented Sirius.

"You already have a headquarters," continued Marlene.

"And three members," said Sirius.

"And benevolent benefactors."

"And a nearly endless supply of food. Clubs are nothing without food."

"You could call yourselves 'The Orphans the Potters Adopted.' Clubs are also nothing without names."

"Opa!" cried James as he mentally arranged the letters.

He was met with many strange looks.

"It's what the letters spell," he answered defensively.

"Anyway," said Sirius to diffuse the awkwardness. "Welcome to the family Vicky."

"Thanks," she said as she settled into the chair the house elves had just brought for her.

"So girls, tell us all about school!" said Mrs. Potter enthusiastically. Now that everyone was present and accounted for and dinner could proceed, she was in a much better mood. She also always felt better after "adopting" another teenaged "orphan;" she had always wanted a houseful of kids and although she had started off with one, she now had four to fill up the empty bedrooms. After they had all left after the summer she had taken to closing her eyes as she passed the bedrooms she no longer identified by the color of their bedspreads or drapes, but by their owner.

First James's was on the left facing the Quidditch Pitch; she could still remember the day he asked her if he could change his room from the traditional first born son's room on the right side directly before the master suite so that he could look at the Pitch when he woke up in the morning. Then directly across from that and down one door was Lily's room; it was so sophisticated with its light colors and delicate patterns but also strong and sturdy like the oak from which the furniture was made, that Mrs. Potter couldn't imagine Lily living anywhere else, nor could she imagine anyone else living in that room. Across from Lily was Sirius's room. At first he had been hesitant to truly move in. He basically lived out of the one trunk he had escaped with until finally Mrs. Potter took him on a shopping trip and the two of them bought posters and other personal items that the room severely lacked. Right next to Lily there was already a room prepared for Vicky; currently it was "the Green Room," but Mrs. Potter had a feeling that before long it would be "Vicky's room," just like the one directly across from it was forever "Remus's room."

Remus didn't live there like the rest of them; he had loving and accepting parents who also understood the fact that he had found another family in his friends. Although not an "orphan," he was far from a guest in the Potter household. His room was decorated similarly to Sirius's- in Gryffindor pride. Next to Remus was the other temporary Potter, Peter. Both rooms were much tidier than the live-ins, but the two boys still left many personal possessions in the Potter Manor rooms so it never felt as if they were merely visiting.

It was an odd phenomenon that those who had spent more than a month living in the Manor, forever felt as if they were coming home when they returned. It reminded Lily of Hogwarts; Potter Manor had that same kind of magic. Unlike Hogwarts, Lily attributed the feeling more to the occupants than the physical structure and memories.

"School…" began Lily with a wide grin that lit up her entire face. "School is wonderful. It's indescribable."

"Obviously," snorted Sirius. "Since you never write anything about it!"

"I agree," added Alice. "I feel like you probably know as much about the Auror Academy as James, Sirius, and I do. Yet none of us know anything about _your_ school."

Lily smiled, all too happy to gush about her new life. "Well we all get up a little before 6 every morning and go for a 10 K run. And it's beautiful. The world is so quiet you can hear every leaf crunch under your foot. And a few weeks ago there was frost coating everything when we first went out, and then the sun would rise as we were cooling down and it would melt forming little beads of dew that sparkled in the new sun."

"Lily's the only one who actually likes running in the morning," said Vicky jarringly.

"Not true," replied Lily curtly with an air of defensiveness.

"You're the only one who would rather daydream about dew than go inside and take a shower and go to breakfast."

Lily conceded, nodding her head, "So that might be kind of true…"

"Anyway, after breakfast we go to classes until lunch and then we have more classes and then dinner and then free time and then more classes and then recreation time and then spiritual time and then reading time and then bed time," said Vicky monotonously.

Lily leaned over and hit her in a friendly way. "You could be a little more descriptive. After breakfast I go to my German class, then Magical Theory, and magical world history. After lunch I have experimental charms, my all time favorite class, then a class called "Life," and a class titled "Survival." After dinner we have free time to do whatever we want."

"I sleep," interjected Vicky.

"I write letters to you people," supplied Lily. "Then I go to my dueling practice class and independent study potions. Then for recreation a few of my friends and I have recently been playing muggle board and card games."

"Lily is so good at them it's ridiculous," huffed Vicky. "Most of us are convinced that she cheats."

"I do not!" protested Lily good-naturedly. "I'm just talented."

"**No one** is **that** talented," said Vicky bitterly.

Lily grinned smugly and continued, "Reading time is one of my favorites. The library is enormous and devoting an hour every day to just reading is phenomenal."

"Wow." Marlene finally commented. "I'm pretty sure you accomplish more before 8 a.m. than I do all day…"

"That makes the Academy sound like creampuff camp…" said Alice, her eyes still wide and surprised.

"So what do they teach you in 'Life' and 'Survival?'" inquired Mrs. Potter.

Vicky jumped in before Lily had time to sugarcoat things. "Well it's assumed that since we're all so powerful and crazy good at life there will eventually be people out there that want to kill us and or torture us until we help them with their evil or selfish plots. Since the founding of the Institute, more than half of its graduates have been abducted or killed," she rattled off as if it were just another statistic. "So Survival is a class that everyone takes; the professor teaches you about what to do if you're in such a situation. We spent the last term analyzing different historical situations and going over the theories and strategies. Next term we get to do some simulations."

Lily covered her eyes with her hand. She could feel several concerned stares concentrated on her face. She was so embarrassed even her ears were turning red.

"What?!" bellowed James.

"James," began Lily without even uncovering her face. She didn't continue because almost instantly she heard his chair harshly scrape against the floor and heard him storm out of the room.

"Didn't anyone ever teach you to keep your mouth shut you stupid know-it-all?" Lily barked at Vicky as she rose from the table. "I'm sorry," she said softly to Mrs. Potter, her eyes averted.

She found James easily; he was just outside the kitchen doors pacing in the snow trying and failing to cool off.

"There are already _hundreds_ of people that already want to kill you!" James yelled at her as she walked out into the harsh and bleak winter scene to join him. "Did you really have to go to a school where it's more likely than not that some _more_ people will try and kill you?!?! Do you have a DEATH WISH?!"

"No James," said Lily soothingly as she embraced him tightly, laying her head on his chest so that she could hear his rapid heartbeat. "By the way, I don't think I told you that I love you today. I love you."

Well that did it. James wrapped his arms, more muscular than ever, around her thin form and held her as tightly as he could. "I just don't want to lose you," he whispered as he buried his face in her hair.

"I won't let that happen. P.S. have I told you that I'm one of the top duelists in my class?" she stated proudly.

"That's good because half the Academy is coming out tomorrow to see you duel this prick who shoots his mouth off about everything. He beat me in our first duel, though I got him the second time around. But anyway, after he beat me Sirius told him that there was no way he could beat my girlfriend. Mick being the egotistical and sexist prick he is bet Sirius every galleon that Sirius has in his bank account that he could beat you," James told her.

"Sirius doesn't have any money…" said Lily, confused.

"All Mick knows is that Sirius is a Black and maybe that he's the oldest son. He just assumed that Sirius would be the heir to the vast Black fortune and would have a sizeable fortune already. If he only listened for half a second instead of talking all the time he would know that Sirius was the white sheep of the Black family and poorer than the Black's miserable house elf."

"So what does Sirius get when I win?" asked Lily, a smile curling around her lips.

"Mick's chocolate frog collection."

"That's it?"

"It's rumored to be worth over ten thousand galleons."

"So either Sirius loses nothing or he gains ten thousand galleons worth of chocolate frog cards," stated Lily.

"That's about it," affirmed James.

"Sirius is slick," laughed Lily. "Only he could arrange a bet so that he can't lose no matter the outcome."

"It's been so hard for both of us not to tell Mick about what he's up against. He's been strutting around for weeks talking about how there was no way he could lose to a girl, especially an untrained one."

"Untrained?" asked Lily skeptically. "I spend 15 to 20 hours a week dueling!"

James laughed. "That was his term, certainly not ours. All Sirius told him was that you weren't in an auror training program. He took that to mean that you were completely untrained. He must think Sirius is a moron."

Lily laughed and then said, "I'm so glad I'm home."

"Home is where the heart is," quoted James.

"And my heart is right here," said Lily sweetly as she loosened an arm and placed her palm against the right side of James's ribcage.

"Now if I do that you would call me a perv," joked James.

"I would call _Sirius_ a perv," specified Lily. "I wouldn't mind if it was you."

James felt Lily's heart beat under his palm and he grinned as her pulse raced. The moment wasn't awkward or creepy as he had expected. He wasn't _groping_ her or feeling her up.

"Mo cuishle," said Lily suddenly.

"Where have I heard that before?" asked James letting the foreign words echo in his ears.

"My father said that when he was drunk and thought I was my mother," said Lily without the usual pain lacing her words. "She was Irish. He called her his "Wild Irish Rose" and "mo cuishle." It means "my blood," "my pulse." She was his pulse, his life. **You** are **my** pulse, my life."

"Lily," said James with all seriousness. "You have been my pulse for four years. I will not live without you."

Lily had tears in her eyes as she threw her arms around James's neck with such reckless abandon and desperation that James nearly fell backwards. But James caught himself and more importantly he caught Lily. He stabilized her and held her there, wrapping her up in love and coating her with affection.

Their hair was a little longer, Lily's eyes deeper with knowledge and secrets, and James's body more toned, but the important things hadn't changed. They still loved each other with more emotion than either had thought was possible.

**And there you have it: a happy little reunion! Hope you enjoyed this and I doubly hope that you review! **

**Some questions to help you in your reviewing:**

**Favorite letter? (I normally don't tell you my answers, but I really feel the need to say that my favorite letter is Peter's. It was fun to write and nearly makes me laugh out loud each time I re-read it.)**

**Any predictions for Remus and Vicky?**

**What do you think about Vicky moving in with the Potters?**

**I know you were probably hoping for the Lily/Mick fight in this update, but I will once again ask for any predictions about it while promising that it is in the next chapter.**

**How do you feel about all the characters lives at this point? Is there any character whose life surprised you? Do you think anyone should have a different life right now and what would it be?**

**Did you enjoy the fluff?**


	51. Relationships

**Disclaimer: I don't own any Harry Potter or Harry Potter related copyrights.**

**Thank you all for the lovely reviews! **

"Lily be careful out there today," said Vicky very seriously as the teens sat eating breakfast the morning of the duel between Mick and Lily.

"Lily be careful?" scoffed Sirius as the rest of the group, sans Lily, chuckled. "I think Mick is the one who needs that advice!"

"No I mean that she should be careful that she doesn't kill him," snapped Vicky temperamentally.

The group instantly sobered as Vicky continued. "Lily is one of the foremost duelists at the Institute, which then means that she is one of the foremost duelists of her age in the _world_. She studies and practices more in a week than this Mick character probably does in a month. In all likelihood, if this were a true duel, he would not survive."

Lily was the only one not wearing a shocked look on her face.

Lily sighed and rolled her eyes. "Well thank you Vicky for that little ray of sunshine. I'm glad that we're all getting a happy start to the day."

"They should know what's going on," persisted Vicky tensely.

Although the two girls had only been at the Potter mansion for less than 48 hours, this issue had already developed into a persisted and large-scale argument between the two of them. Vicky believed that Lily's home friends should know exactly what went on at the Institute and precisely how talented she was. Lily believed that understatement was key; she hated seeing the startled looks on the faces of her friends. With every explanation out of Vicky's mouth the way they looked at her changed a little. She was not okay with that.

"I haven't gone around blabbing about exactly who you are and what you can do," Lily hissed. "You should do the same."

"Why are you hiding who you are from them?!" asked Vicky loudly. "I thought they were your _friends_."

By now the atmosphere around the table was really tense and awkward. No one knew what to do or say.

"I am not _hiding anything_!" spat Lily.

"No you just aren't telling them the majority of your life. B_ig difference_," said Vicky sarcastically. "Lies of omission are just as much lies as lies of commission are."

Lily glared at Vicky for a long moment and then without breaking eye contact informed the rest of the table, "Vicky has a huge crush on Remus. They stopped exchanging letters because she wrote him saying that she had a boyfriend. She _did_ have a boyfriend but she only did it to make Remus jealous. Remus interpreted it differently, thinking that she had never really liked him and so stopped writing. Vicky was incredibly embarrassed that her plan didn't work and she couldn't work herself up to write to him to tell him what she had done." Lily smirked as Vicky's eyes widened and her cheeks turned red.

"Bitch!" muttered Vicky with much emotion. "The very first day at the Institute Lily kissed another guy and ever since then they've been going on the morning runs together."

Lily paled and couldn't turn her gaze from Vicky's triumphant face because she knew she would be met by the glares of her friends and the wounded stare of her boyfriend.

"You dirty whore," she spat.

"That's enough," said Remus sternly. Neither woman had seen him approach because they were focused solely on each other, trying to kill each other with their eyes. He physically pushed them away from each other and then stepped in between their chairs, severing their connection.

"Vicky you come with me, everyone else go do something, Lily and James need to talk," ordered Remus as he physically pulled Vicky out of her chair and out of the room.

Once Vicky and Remus has reached an empty parlor, Remus turned to her and said, "Even though you don't agree with Lily's way of handling things you have to respect it. If there are things she doesn't want to share then it is your job as her _friend_ to help her to keep those secrets. Secrets and lies are completely different things."

"But in relationships you should be honest with the other person or persons," disagreed Vicky.

"Complete honesty can be more hurtful than helpful," countered Remus.

"She is leaving out nearly everything about herself!"

"I don't see you laying all of _your_ cards on the table, what gives you the right to demand that of her?" questioned Remus.

"I- uh… well…"

Remus quirked an eyebrow, clearly showing that he didn't expect she would have an answer. "Exactly. When the day comes when you expose your every secret to the world you can ask Lily to do the same. Until then please keep your mouth shut and stop screwing up Lily's life."

"I am not screwing up her life," Vicky muttered half-heartedly.

"Oh but you are," said Remus emotionally. "She and James have enough problems without you stirring things up. He is already scared of her being so far away, he doesn't need you telling him that she's cheating on him and putting her life in danger by being there. How could you possibly think that was a good idea?!"

"I don't think that _**they**_ are a good idea," explained Vicky. "She can do better."

"That isn't yours to decide," hissed Remus defensively. "You're the one who knows how truly smart she is, don't you think she's competent enough to decide whom to fall in love with?"

"You don't understand," protested Vicky. "She is settling by staying with him. They will never work because someday she's going to realize that she wants more than he can give her. They aren't equals."

That hit home for Remus. She thought love had to be between equals. He wondered what she thought of as equals. Would a poor and nearly employable werewolf be the equal of an Institute girl, one of the most talented witches in the world who could go anywhere and be anything she wanted? Perhaps not.

Remus had nothing more to say. He opened and closed his mouth a few times, willing some more wise or witty words to flow out, but unfortunately his wounded heart had swollen and risen to his throat, blocking any more words from rising from his vocal chords. His eyebrows knit together and his gaze fell to the floor, causing his face to take on a confused and hurt expression.

"What?" she inquired, her lack of social skills revealing itself.

Remus finally spoke, "Then why do _you_ fancy _me_?"

"Uh…" the Institute girl was speechless again.

"You may be the biggest hypocrite I have ever met," Remus stated as he turned and strode from the room.

-----

"So that was an interesting breakfast," began Peter to break the silence that had descended upon the four teenagers whose lives were relatively drama-free at this moment.

"I don't think I like this Vicky girl very much," stated Marlene in her customary blunt fashion.

"I'm still trying to figure out if they are friends or enemies," joked Sirius lightly.

"They're best friends," said Alice quietly. "She's doing what she thinks is best for her friend."

"By breaking up her relationship?" asked Sirius heatedly. "How would that do her any good?"

"I think Vicky thinks that we are all beneath her," said Marlene caustically. "I overheard her talking to Lily early this morning when they came back from their run and she referred to all of us as 'commoners.' As if she was a bloody queen!"

Silence reigned again as each of them became lost in their own thoughts and worries.

"Do you think Lily and James will be okay?" asked Peter voicing his concern.

Sirius nodded slowly and then said, "Yeah. They'll get through this just like they've gotten through everything else. But I swear- if that Vicky chick interferes again I'm taking her down."

"What about Remus?" asked Alice.

"What about him?" responded Sirius.

"If he likes her he won't let you hurt her…"

"He won't stand in your way," promised the subject in question as he walked into the room. "He won't help, but he won't stop you," he added as he read the question on Sirius's face.

"That's good enough for me. I can take her by myself," boasted Sirius.

"So does anyone know if Lily actually _did_ kiss someone else?" asked Marlene like a gossip hound sniffing around a foxhole of juicy scoop.

All four heads swiveled and glared at her.

"Even if she did Potter should forgive her since she forgave him for- how do you say it?- _snogging_ **you**," said Vicky as she stood on the threshold of the room.

"She told you about that?!" screeched Marlene.

"Of course she did. You all might think that the two of us are sworn enemies because all we've done since I've arrived is fight, but we fight _because_ we are best friends. We care about each other and want the best for each other. Even the things we don't have the courage to get for ourselves," and with that she let her gaze linger on Remus's stony face. "They will either get over this and move on with their lives and relationship, or they will break up. If they break up it will be for the best because they clearly aren't meant to be together. If they stay together then it will just be some more water under the bridge and they will be closer for it. If anyone needs me, which I doubt, I'll be in the library until the duel at three."

"Isn't she a piece of work," muttered Sirius after she was long gone.

"I just hope she was like that before she went to school and that that school doesn't do that to people. I don't think I could stand being around Lily if she acted like that all the time," stated Marlene loftily.

"You know you aren't such a cupcake all the time either," Sirius shot back at her with a sideways glance.

Marlene's mouth fell open in shock as Remus, though at first he had controlled himself, burst out laughing.

"She isn't a cupcake? Sirius you're a moron. What does 'cupcake' even mean?" he asked his best mate.

"You know… cupcake!" argued Sirius. "Actually that was stupid, I don't even know why I said it…"

"Speaking of talking," said Marlene who had quickly cooled off once it was Sirius who looked stupid instead of her. "Do you think James and Lily are still talking?"

Remus pondered the question for a moment before offering his opinion. "I bet it started off with Lily talking and James yelling and then Lily talking and James yelling then Lily yelling and James talking and then Lily talking and James talking."

"I say it goes more like this," said Sirius as he cleared his throat. He adjusted his voice so that it was a high and squeaky, very unlike Lily, but they all understood what he was trying to do. "Ummm… James? About that guy? Well I didn't really like him, but you know how uncontrollably attractive I am and well… he has a thing for me so one day he just came up and kissed me. It wasn't my fault and I kicked his arse right after. It was nothing I swear!"

Sirius then lowered his voice and took on the persona of James. "Why didn't you tell me about this?! I can't believe you would do this to me! I knew you never should have gone to that school- way too many blokes that I haven't scared away from you yet!"

Then Sirius went back to Lily. "I am a capable and independent woman! I don't need you to protect me you sexist prick! I kicked Teddy's arse so calm down! It's not like I like him or anything!"

"Teddy?" Peter interrupted. "Who is Teddy?"

Sirius, who had gotten very involved in his speeches, suddenly froze and became pale.

"Sirius?" asked Remus when Sirius didn't respond. "What do you know about all of this?"

"Nothing! Absolutely nothing! Didn't Vicky say the bloke's name was Teddy? Maybe I'm just hearing things again…" he said weakly.

"No, you know something," persisted Remus.

"Sirius I will tickle the information out of you," Marlene threatened.

"Oh Merlin," muttered Sirius. "Fine. I don't rightly know the bloke's name, Lily just called him Teddy in her letters."

"Letter**s**? As in more than one?" inquired Marlene. "What is really going on with this Teddy guy and why did Lily tell you so much about it?"

"The guy randomly came up to her on the first day of school and kissed her. Like I said she kicked his arse, but for some reason the masochist keeps coming back for more. He knows that she has a boyfriend and she has told him that she wasn't interested but he fairly well stalks her. She never told James about him because she knew he would overreact but she wanted some advice on what to do so she wrote me but made me promise not to tell anyone," explained Sirius solemnly.

"Well I bet they talked for like two minutes and have been snogging ever since," said Peter in a very non sequitur way.

"I disagree," said Alice softly. "I think that they are talking about and evaluating their relationship. For the last three months they have kept a long distance relationship alive, but they aren't going to last much longer without making some adjustments and concessions."

Just then a small group of auror trainees was shown into the room by one of the house elves and all conversation about James and Lily stopped and talk turned to the duel that was only a few hours away.

-----

Twenty minutes before the match Mick arrived in grand style: he was fully decked out in wizard garb from the pompously pointed hat on his head to the thick midnight black velvet cape than hung from his shoulders and formed a pool around his pointed shoes.

"He looks ridiculous," Sirius muttered to Remus as Mick approached. "Hey Mick! How was your trip?"

"Just as smooth as this duel is about to be. Where's the bird?" asked Mick as he looked around disdainfully, his nose pointed high in the air.

"Oh you know birds, she's powdering her nose or something," said Sirius dismissively. "Did you bring your chocolate frog collection?"

"Yes," said Mick as he pointed to the large trunk at the other end of the Quidditch Pitch where the match was to be held. "And the key to your vault?"

Sirius rummaged around in his pocket for a moment before producing the small golden key which had once held thousands upon thousands of golden coins… but that was the price of running away from home. "Satisfied?"

"Eagerly anticipating my new fortune," he retorted with a smarmy smile. "I already have plans for the money. I'm going to invest it so that by the time I am turn twenty I will be a millionaire, and that will be before I come into my inheritance!"

"What makes you think that you wouldn't instantly be a millionaire if you won this fight?" asked Sirius confusedly. To Remus it was clear that Sirius was goading the guy, but all Mick saw was a waterfall of gold cascading before his eyes.

"You're even more moronic than I had anticipated Black," laughed Mick.

"I think we'll all learn a lesson here today," said Sirius vaguely. Only Remus caught the dangerous glint in Sirius's eyes.

"So where is this bird of yours Black?" Mick asked again, eager to win… begin.

"She'll be here," said Sirius confidently. "The match doesn't start for another fifteen minutes."

"If she's any more than five minutes late she automatically forfeits," stated Mick.

"What, are you scared Mick?"

"Of course not! I just have better things to do with my very valuable time than to wait around for some girl to show up."

"Well while we're waiting we wanted to go over some guidelines with you," said Remus as he pulled out a piece of parchment. "This basically says that you can't kill each other or use Unforgivables. Lily already signed it so all we need is your signature."

Mick read it thoroughly, nodded and then took the proffered quill and signed it.

"Excellent," said Remus as he snatched the parchment back and tucked it into a pocket within his cloak. "And here comes Lily."

Mick turned around sharply and a grin spread over his face. For a moment he had been slightly intimidated; the fact that Sirius was willing to risk _millions_ on this duel had finally pierced his ego and registered in his brain. For a nanosecond he had wondered if this Lily was a superhuman or something like that. But no, she looked like any other girl from what he could tell. Most of her body was concealed by her pink cloak, but she wasn't overly large or anything so he was no longer concerned.

"You must be Mick," she said cheerily.

"And you are Potter's girl," he stated.

"Yes, but generally people call me Lily," she said with only a bit of irritation leaking into her tone.

"So _Lily_, what do you do?" he asked patronizingly.

"I'm a student," she said simply.

Mick turned to Sirius and snarled, "You said she wasn't in the Auror Academy!"

"She isn't," responded Sirius calmly.

"What are you being trained for?" he asked, once again calm.

"I don't really know right now," said Lily airily. "Maybe healing, or teaching… I really like Charms and reading... maybe I'll write a book about Charms!"

Remus nearly gagged. Lily was pretending to be stupid! It was almost nauseating.

"What's the name of this school of yours?" he asked condescendingly.

"It doesn't really matter," said Lily. "How about we start this duel thingy?"

"Yes, let's," said Mick disdainfully. "But where's Potter? I want him to see this."

"Oh don't worry, he has the best seat in the house," began Sirius. "He'll be offering a running commentary throughout the match."

Remus gave James the high sign and then he and Sirius ran off the field as James's amplified voice rang throughout the pitch.

"Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen and thank you for coming out today to witness this epic duel between the resident prick of the Auror Academy, Mick, and my exceedingly lovely and talented girlfriend, Lily!" The crowds booed and cheered appropriately and then continued. "I would just like to fill the rest of you in on the guidelines for today's matchup. There is no killing, no seconds, and no Unforgivable or otherwise illegal spells to be used. Other than that, anything goes, and folks I guarantee that we will see some of that anything, because there is more to Lily than meets the eye and trust me, there is a lot that meets the eye."

While James was speaking both duelists had been preparing themselves for the match. Lily was mentally focusing her energies and calling forth her reservoirs of magic, while Mick was showing off, doing sit-ups and pushups to physically get himself warmed up. As James said "there is a lot that meets the eye" Lily chose to fling off her cloak, revealing her interesting choice of clothing. Although she didn't look like a prostitute, her relatively short skirt and tight fitting blouse made her look like she would fit in better in a dating scene than the dueling scene. James smirked as there was an uproar from the crowd and Mick's jaw nearly dropped down to his chest. James wolf-whistled for effect.

"Well now if both duelists are ready could they please approach the middle of the field where the official, our very own dueling instructor, Professor Jeremy Ringer, is standing," said James.

The instructor took over the formalities from there. He had the duelists bow, turn back to back and then walk ten paces away from each other. But on the ninth pace, Mick spun and shot a spell at Lily. Used to such dirty tactics, she was expecting such an attack and easily ducked out of the way. Then she turned around to face the cheater as the crowd booed and James yelled obscenities.

"Are you _that_ nervous?" she asked with a smirk. "You need to attack me while my back is turned?"

"No of course not! I was trying to go easy on you; it hurts less if you don't see it coming!"

"Don't go easy on me because I will definitely not be easy on you!"

Mick laughed and then his face became serious and he launched a flurry of attacks. All of the colorful jets of light collided with an invisible wall a meter or so in front of Lily, exploding in a furious stream of sparks.

Now it was Lily's turn to laugh. "Is that all you've got?"

Mick turned red and doubled his efforts. For a moment there were so many spells and sparks shooting through the air that it was impossible to even see Lily. James paused in his comments for a moment, holding his breath with the rest of the crowd and then cheering the loudest when the smoke and sparks cleared and Lily was standing, yawning of all things, perfectly unharmed.

"There is no shield in the world that could block all of those spells and curses without shattering!" bellowed Mick as copious globs of spit flew from his mouth.

"Then maybe it isn't a shield," stated Lily lightly as a feral grin contorted her lips.

She stretched her arm, palm toward Mick, directly in front of her, brought all of her fingertips together and pulled back a little. Suddenly in the exact spot where all the spells were disappearing a colorful membrane materialized. As Lily pulled toward her the membrane dimpled inward. When it came within her reached she reached out her other hand and closed off the colorful membrane so that it was a ball in her hand. She let go of the rest of the wall and it bounced back into place, becoming invisible once more. Then she juggled the ball between her hands, enjoying the increasing amount of fear that was apparent on her opponent's face.

Frightened and desperate, he cast off more spells in rapid succession. Once the flow halted she began moving toward him slowly. She passed the point where the spells had been disappearing and Mick shot another curse at her. She waved her free hand as the light beam came close to her and bent it so that it curved into the ball in her palm and left her unscathed. He was visibly shaking now. All of his usual tricks were failing miserably; in fact he couldn't hit her with a single spell and now she had this ball in her hand?!?! How does one protect himself against something he has never seen before?

"It was fun dueling with you," said Lily sweetly as she blew the ball off of her palm just as she would blow an eyelash off of her fingertip to make a wish. As soon as the ball left her hand it flashed across the distance between the pair and plunged into Mick's chest launching him all the way to the edge of the field. He was unconscious before he hit the ground. Lily watched his body for a moment, nodded and then walked stately back to the middle of the pitch where the official held up her arm to signal that she was the winner.

Lily amplified her own voice. "I would like to extend a challenge to the rest of you. This is a chance to restore the pride to your school. I will duel anyone who is willing right here and right now. So any volunteers?"

At first everyone simply looked at one another as if to say "No you go ahead and duel the crazy woman in the skirt." Then Mihail, the man who won the duel against Alice, raised his hand. "I will do it. Same rules apply. Let's go."

Lily cracked her neck and said, "Bring it on."

After the formalities, both duelists turned and faced each other, but neither cast a single curse. Mihail was expecting Lily to pull the same trick, so he refrained from casting any spells because he correctly guessed that the spells fed whatever wall she constructed. Therefore Lily shot off the first couple of spells and missed. Mihail laughed as he sidestepped the beams easily. For a split second he wondered if she was only a one trick pony. Then the invisible and much more potent spell hit him and he went down. She had tricked him into standing precisely where she wanted him so that he could not escape her spell. The fact that it was colorless was also helpful.

"Next?" she called cutely.

Enraged that another of their better duelists had gone down, a few more trainees stepped up to the plate. All were summarily disposed of. As the day wore on Lily got fancier and fancier with her strategies. The later volunteers thought that they would have an advantage after watching her fight a few times, but unfortunately for them she was completely unpredictable. Her spells were faster, stronger, and nearly impossible to block. She surprised many when in one battle she allowed herself to be disarmed and then knocked out her opponent with a wandless curse. Also she was able to do many things that others had never even heard of. Generally speaking each spell employed in a duel had a color, it presented as a beam of light. Many times Lily did not simply silently cast the curse but she also made it completely colorless. It was as if her victims were dueling with their back to her- no one could see their demise coming.

After fourteen victories Lily announced that she needed a water break but would return in five minutes. The remaining opponents gathered together to figure out a strategy so that there school would not be so ashamed. Their dueling instructor was growing more and more angry with each defeat, and the trainees knew that things would not be pleasant when they returned to the Academy after the holiday unless they could take Lily down in some spectacular way.

When Lily returned she casually asked, "Who's next?"

"We have a proposition," one stepped forward to say. "We'd like you to duel all six of us at once."

Lily tilted her head and thought about it for a moment. "I don't see why not. The only condition is that when we line up all six of you must be facing me. After the bowing and the ten paces and whatnot you can go wherever you want, but you must start facing me."

The leader turned to his group with a silent question. They murmured amongst themselves for a minute and then the leader announced that they accepted her condition.

The crowd muttered in surprise, some in worry, as Lily faced off one third year student, three second years and two first year trainees. James was not least among the worriers though he tried to pass it off in jokes as he announced what she had agreed to do.

At the end of the ten paces the six trainees fanned out into a semicircle and launched a nearly simultaneous assault upon Lily. She ducked some and blocked others before retaliating just as fiercely. Spells flashed across the pitch so fast that the onlookers lost track of who had fired what.

It seemed like almost an even match, Lily was finally taking some hits, though she was casting the countercurses nearly as quickly, and all of her opponents were still standing. She was actually sweating and no longer thinking or planning, just acting and reacting. Then suddenly she counted. She only saw five attackers. Where was the other one? And then she felt it- the strength sapping curse that hit her full on in the back. She fell to the ground and sighed; she didn't know the counter for that curse or even if there was one.

However she had gotten knocked down before; she spent much of her first weeks at the Institute becoming very familiar with its floors. She drew upon her last reserves of energy and played her last card. Murmuring to the earth beneath her lips as the crowd and her opponents wondered if she was down for good, Lily cast a powerful incantation. She flipped onto her back and touched the ground with her wand. Then twirling her wand in tight circles she lifted it until that her arm was perpendicular to the ground. As the wand soared up so did a huge boulder formed of frozen earth. With one great sweep of her arm she took out all six trainees who had foolishly formed a circle around her as they moved closer.

Once it was evident that they were down for the count, most with several broken bones and a few with concussions, Lily lifted herself to her feet to uproarious applause. A moment later Sirius and Remus were at her sides helping her to stand as they cheered her on. Only a minute after that James was sweeping her into his arms and twirling her around.

"You were fabulous love," he gushed as he kissed her cheek.

"Yes, but now I'm not feeling so fabulous. I think a nice cup of tea and a long nap in front of a warm fire might do me a world of good right now," she told him softly.

James just smiled and replaced Sirius and Remus as her support. They didn't make it far however before the dueling instructor stopped them.

"Now where is it that you go to school?" he asked her.

"The International Institute for Extremely Talented Wizards," stated James proudly.

"Genius school," editorialized Sirius.

"Ah," said the instructor shortly. "That explains a lot. Who is your dueling instructor?"

"Amadeus Aranio," answered Lily quietly.

"You are studying under Aranio?!" gasped the instructor. "_The_ Aranio? The greatest duelist of all time?"

"Yes sir," said Lily simply.

"To study under him is the greatest honor, treasure the experience."

"It kept me alive today," said Lily dryly.

"That is has," mused the instructor.

"You wouldn't consider transferring to the Auror Academy by any chance would you? To have such a pupil- though if I were in your extremely talented shoes I would not leave Aranio for all the jewels in the world!"

"I think my place is at the Institute with Master Aranio," said Lily kindly.

"I would very much agree! However, if ever you change your mind, I can personally guarantee that you would be welcome at the Academy, even if you only desire to sharpen your dueling abilities. Merlin knows that you could teach these knuckleheads a thing or two," he chuckled. "Well anyway enjoy the rest of your holiday and please know that I thoroughly enjoyed watching you duel this afternoon."

"It was nice to meet you sir," said Lily as she and James moved on.

"So this Aranio guy-?" asked James lightly.

"Has devoted his life since the age of 11 to learning everything there is to know about dueling. For the last 80 years he has read every book he could find, watched every match, every tournament he has heard of, and engaged in as many duels as possible. About eight or nine years ago he retired from the dueling circuit and turned to teaching at the Institute," explained Lily. After their heart to heart earlier that day in which James had told Lily that he wanted to know everything and he would try to do his best not to see her differently, Lily became committed to not withholding anything.

"And he taught you all that stuff?" James asked, referencing her dueling moves of the last three hours.

"Most of it, some of it I improvised, some I learned from my duels at the Institute against my classmates and other stuff some people in my head taught me," she said vaguely hoping he would understand that she was talking about her gifts as a Guardian.

"Well you were bloody fantastic out there!" said James carefully diverting the conversation.

"Thank you. It was fun. And now Sirius is the proud owner of a billion chocolate frogs cards."

Then suddenly Mick appeared in front of the pair, his chest heaving and his eyes wild. "You're a freak! A freak! No one can do that! Makes balls of energy out of nothing! And that wall! You're some sort of freak of nature!"

"She isn't the one who is shouting like an insane person," said James coldly as he felt Lily stiffen and saw her face grow cold.

Mick whipped out his wand and before either James or Lily could react he cast a blasting curse at her. At such short range and with so much unadulterated rage and humiliation behind it, the blast threw Lily out of James's grip, all the way across the Pitch and into the stands where an audible crunch was heard as she landed.

As predicted Sirius and Remus were at James's elbows in a second, wands out and eyes blazing.

"Take care of him," stated James breathlessly as he sprinted toward Lily's prone figure. She wasn't moving and a puddle of blood was forming underneath her. The mediwizard Sirius had commissioned for the event arrived a few moments after James and quickly assessed the situation.

"It's not as bad as it looks," he stated gruffly. "A few broken bones and some bruises. Maybe some internal bleeding. It doesn't appear that she severed her spine so she probably won't be paralyzed. But I think she did break her back. That might take some time to heal. She'll definitely have to go easy for a week or two. I've seen much worse than this. I was very surprised that she didn't sustain any serious injuries during any of her duels, especially the later ones. After a duelist gets tired they get clumsy and when a duelist gets clumsy they make mistakes and I have seen worse mistakes than this. Magical stuff is hard to treat. First you have to figure out what hit 'em and then what hit 'em before that and how that will be an interaction, and then you've got to figure out how to stop it and then clean up the mess that used to be a body. Just body stuff like this- no big deal. Ten minutes tops. It's all straightforward, basic. Like I said she's going to be stiff and you should keep a close eye on her, but she seems fine. It's lucky she's in such good shape and so young, otherwise it might have been much worse. But she'll pull through and by the New Year she shouldn't be any the worse for wear. That which doesn't kill you makes you stronger," ended the medic with a chuckle.

Although the mediwizard's incessant speech was designed to keep James calm it really had no effect on him because he didn't hear a word of it. The only thing he heard was the blood rushing in his ears and the sound of his own raspy breathing. Then when the mediwizard cast his last charm and Lily opened her brilliant, wonderful, sparkling emerald eyes, James returned to the world. For the first time he noticed that he wasn't the only one circled around Lily; none of the trainees had stuck around once they heard that she was going to be fine, but Alice, Marlene, Vicky, and Peter were there looking as pale as James felt and Lily was.

"I could really use a cup of tea," she said hoarsely.

James laughed in relief as he scooped her up in his arms and headed toward their home. On the stairs down to the pitch he met with Remus and Sirius. "Everything taken care of?" he asked.

They both nodded seriously.

Lily felt sore all over and completely drained of energy, but she knew that in some ditch there was a first year auror trainee who was probably feeling much worse than she was.

"Tell the mediwizard where he is please," she requested.

Sirius was taken aback but he gave her his word that he would. As the duo went to the mediwizard who was cleaning up and repairing the damage done to the bleachers, Sirius remarked, "Do you think that Lily might be too good for Prongs? He all but orders us to kill the guy and then she wants him healed?"

"If someone hurt him she would react the same way," theorized Remus.

"But he wouldn't want the person healed," Sirius said. "I'm just saying, maybe Vicky is a little bit right. She's more talented, intelligent, and _moral_ than he is."

"But how can you look at them and say they don't belong together?" questioned Remus. "I have never seen two people more cut out for each other. They balance each other out and make each other better. Lily made Prongs grow a conscience, and he helped her to develop her self-esteem. Think about either of them during our fifth year; both were miserable excuses for people, but now they are… whole. They complete each other."

"That was completely sappy Moony, but absolutely true," stated Sirius. "I've kind of started to think of them in my head as Lily and James or Lily and Prongs. I don't see them as distinct individuals anymore; they're a couple."

"In the truest sense of the word," agreed Remus.

-----

A half hour later Lily got her wish. She had changed into sweatpants and a tee-shirt and just finished a cup of her favorite raspberry tea when she settled down next to her boyfriend on a pile of blankets he had laid out in front of a roaring fire in the fireplace.

"How are you feeling?" he asked softly as his eyes roamed over her face.

"Much better now," she answered as she tucked herself in closer to him.

He was lying on his side and facing the fireplace. She was on her back pressed up against his chest. For a while the pair stayed just like that listening to each other breathe and the logs crackle in the fireplace.

"I'm sorry for overreacting this morning," he whispered, not wanting to break the peace but needing to get that off of his chest.

Lily had been staring at the fire but she shifted so that her focus was on James's face. He looked genuinely remorseful. Lily raised one of her hands and stroked the side of his face that wasn't being propped up on his hand. "Apology accepted. I don't hold it against you even a little bit. I would have reacted in the same way if the situation was reversed."

"Actually," James began with a smile. "I think I reacted a bit better than you did this summer."

Lily's smile dropped a hair as she said, "Marlene is my best friend; Teddy is a stranger. They are completely different situations. If you found Sirius and I snogging I doubt you would forgive me in a matter of hours."

"I would forgive you," said James thoughtfully. "But I would have to kill Sirius."

"I think that's what keeps him from snogging me," whispered Lily as if she was revealing some huge secret.

"Do you know why I would kill Sirius and not you? It's because I have two other best mates, but I only have one girlfriend… that you know of," he joked. "I would miss you far too much. I really don't know how I survived these last three months."

"The letters definitely helped," Lily told him.

"Yeah but you look like some sort of creep when you kiss letters; I missed kissing you."

Lily smiled. She could tell where this was going. James lowered his face to hers and kissed her softly and sweetly at first, but she had other ideas in mind. James grinned as she traced her tongue around his lips; he was pleased to know that for once he wasn't the hornier of the two of them. After teasing her for a moment more he accepted her invitation. She tasted like raspberries… raspberries and Lily.

As things got hotter James made to move on top of Lily, but he forgot one key detail- she had been seriously injured little more than an hour ago. She groaned and at first James didn't understand, but then he slid off of her carefully.

"Yeah I don't think that's going to work," grunted Lily as she got her breath back.

"What hurts?" asked James concernedly.

Lily placed her palm on her belly button. "I have this big ugly bruise where the curse hit. It's really tender."

"Let me see," requested James as he settled into a sitting position at her side. With more gentleness than one might expect, he lifted her shirt up, exposing her black and blue abdomen. Lily lifted her head slightly, saw the bruise again, and then let her head drop as she groaned.

"Do you want me to kiss it and make it feel all better?" James asked slyly.

"It really hurts, how is touching it going to make it feel better?" snapped Lily. She was more than a little frustrated that the bruise had interrupted what promised to be a great snog.

"You'll see," James promised. And then he began to trace the very edge of the circular bruise with the lightest of kisses. Lily's abs were tense with the anticipation of pain, but almost immediately she melted as James went to work. She couldn't believe that she actually did begin to feel better. And then he approached the bottom of the circle which was a mere one or two centimeters above the waistline of her sweatpants.

"James," she moaned as he lingered there. "Merlin! Do you know what you're doing to me?"

He chuckled as he pressed one more kiss there and moved on to complete the circle.

"I think a taste of your own medicine is good for you," he said with a smirk as he saw how fast and dramatically her chest was rising and falling.

"Now it's my turn," said Lily devilishly as she sat up next to him. Without any sort of warning she had removed his shirt and tossed it across the room. Then firmly but gently she pressed him back down on the blankets.

"I can't decide if you're goal is to torture or pleasure me," joked James as he cradled his head in his hands.

"That all depends," said Lily silkily as she lightly traced the line from his belly button to his neck. "If you're a masochist they're one and the same."

"I chased you for all those years, I don't know how I could not be a masochist," said James weakly.

"Umm…" agreed Lily, but the time for words was over. She was determined to make him feel as crazy for her as he had just made her for him.

She nearly laughed as she felt his muscles tighten under her touch. She then crossed over his body and began to kiss his neck, making sure to find his pulse point and linger there. As she felt the blood rapidly rush through his artery she smiled. Meanwhile James was concentrating on remembering to breathe.

"You're driving me crazy," he admitted as she and her kisses migrated down his chest.

If he was crazy then he truly went insane a moment later when she kissed the strip of skin just above the waistline of his jeans.

"Merlin woman," he moaned as she literally took his breath away.

But she wasn't done. Suddenly she was straddling him and her lips were on his.

"You win," he said breathily as she released him from the kiss.

Lily smiled. "And just think if you hadn't forgiven me this morning you would have missed all of this."

"Remind me to never not forgive you," James told her.

Lily laughed and agreed as she got off of him and resumed her former place next to him so that he wouldn't have a heart attack.

As she rested her head on his shoulder and he absentmindedly played with her hair she was struck by the idea that life didn't get any better than this.

**A/N. So finally the long awaited duel has arrived! **

**What did you think of the duel between Mick and Lily?**

**What did you think of the duels between Lily and the other trainees?**

**What do you think of Mick and his act of revenge? What about the reactions of James, Sirius and Remus?**

**Any comments on the fluff between James and Lily?**

**And to backtrack a little- what do you think about Vicky and her views on Lily's relationships?**

**What do you think about Vicky and Remus's relationship and where do you see it going?**


	52. Kissing Contests

**A/N. I would just like to thank all of my readers who leave anonymous reviews, but ask them to please sign in so that I can respond to their questions promptly. However I will answer the questions in the next chapter.**

**So Voodoo Duck here are some answers for you:**

What happens to Daisy? **You'll just have to keep reading to find out! Don't worry I'm not done with her yet, and she'll actually be appearing in the next couple of chapters or so. **

Also you said in an earlier chapter that a killing curse can't

kill a Guardian, but ( and again i'm not 100% sure of this, not having read

the books in a while) that both James and Lily Potter were killed with a

killing curse. **Yes in the books both Lily and James were killed with the killing curse, but I'm not J.K. Rowling and the term 'AU' allows me to do whatever I want! Again, you'll just have to keep reading to find out how everything works out! **

**Disclaimer: I don't own any Harry Potter or Harry Potter related copyrights.**

"Hey Lily," said James casually as he found her in the library taking advantage of the immense number of books the Potter family had collected over the years.

Lily smiled in response but didn't take her eyes off of the page because she was right in the middle of a paragraph. James knew better than anyone how much she hated having to stop before the end of a paragraph, mostly because he interrupted her the most often.

"Yes?" she inquired as she finally looked up at him, her eyes shining with the excitement of finding a new and engaging novel.

"I was just wondering, do you miss spending the holidays with your family, and by that I mean your dad and sisters and muggle friends?" asked James very seriously.

"No," said Lily very slowly and somberly.

"That doesn't sound like a simple no," James pointed out, a little bit of disappointment saturating his tone.

"It can't be a simple no," Lily retorted bitterly. "You've only really known me when I had family problems. You know nothing about all those years when I had truly wonderful Christmases filled with traditions and happiness. I do miss those years desperately; honestly I would give anything to have my family back the way it was when I was little.

"However," Lily shuddered. "I am extremely grateful to be here with you and your family. This Christmas season has been the best I have had since before my mother died. Being here makes me… not hurt for the first time in a really long time. I had a hole and this new family filled it, but that doesn't mean the hole was never there. Do you understand?" she asked pleadingly.

James nodded slowly. "Tell me about your happy Christmases because you're right, I've only heard about the sad ones."

"Well my favorite part was decorating the tree. We each had our own ornaments and as we unwrapped each one we would laugh about where or when we got it. Then we would throw tinsel all over the tree, and really all over the parlor and each other. Some of it usually made it to the tree… Then at the end my dad always lifted me up so that I could put the angel on top. And then my mom would come in with warm gingerbread men and cold milk, and we would all sit around the fireplace eating them. Then we would sing carols…. Well I can't sing so I would play the piano while my much more talented sisters would sing with my mum and my dad would play the guitar and sing along. I wish that I still had my ornaments; some of them were truly beautiful…"

"I've never decorated a tree before," commented James. "The house elves do it every year."

"That's very sad," Lily told him. "It's one of my fondest childhood memories."

"I guess that you can't miss something you've never had," said James lightly.

"I disagree. I never knew any of my grandparents, and yet I still feel sorrow that I missed out on that experience."

"I don't remember much of my grandparents either; they had all passed away by the time I was nine."

"Maybe next year we can decorate one of the trees together," said Lily sweetly.

"It's a date," confirmed James.

"Now tell me about your childhood Christmases," requested Lily.

James pondered the thought for a moment and replied, "They were pretty much like they are now except without you and Sirius. Rather lonely really. I spent most of my winter holiday before Christmas Eve coming up with nasty things to do to Marlene. Then I spent the party torturing Marlene and pretending to be a nice little boy and be paraded around by my parents. Then Christmas morning I would open all my presents in front of my parents. Then Uncle Harry and Auntie Eileen would come over for brunch, and until there was a family feud when I was nine- over the division of inheritance I think- the extended family would come over for dinner. That's pretty much it."

"Sounds so boring- unlike last Christmas morning," said Lily with a laugh.

"Oh, can we finally laugh about that?" asked James with a teasing grin. "Last I heard we were never speaking about that incidence again."

"It's been a year now, I think it's safe to start laughing."

James snorted. "But you're still embarrassed about it! Look, you're blushing!"

"I blush all the time!" protested Lily.

"Especially when I'm around," said James flirtatiously.

Lily tried not to increase his ego, but she couldn't help but smile as she looked at his cocky grin.

"Ha! You can't resist my charm! I knew this day would come!" he said dreamily.

"Oh yeah?" challenged Lily. "I say that we have a contest to see which one of us can't resist the other. The first person to kiss the other loses."

"And what happens to the loser?" asked James, his eyebrows raised.

Lily had to think about that for a few moments. Finally her brow smoothed and she announced, "Loser has to ask the German Minister of Economy about Germany's economy."

"Wow. I never knew you were so devious," said James seriously. That one question could easily take over an hour to answer and the German Minister never let anyone escape until he had thoroughly exhausted the subject.

"Good luck Mr. Potter," Lily whispered in his ear.

Sometime later the four teenagers of the house were lounging in the parlor. Vicky was idly flipping through a magazine, while Sirius was actively watching James and Lily stare at each other without saying anything.

"Do you know what is going on with them? They're acting stranger than usual…" Sirius commented to Vicky.

Without even looking up Vicky responded dully, "They are seeing who can resist kissing the other longer. It's been three hours and they are both going out of their minds."

"I bet you Prongs loses," stated Sirius.

"I agree," answered Vicky. "He has no self-restraint, not when it comes to Lily at least."

A few hours later James was lying on his bed brooding when Sirius happened to walk by. James sighed deeply to get his attention. Sirius contemplated walking by, but instead rolled his eyes and took the bait.

"Hey Padfoot," uttered James miserably and pathetically.

"You are a miserable, pathetic excuse for a man," Sirius informed him.

"Wow, tell me how you really feel," muttered James in shock.

Sirius rolled his eyes again and sighed. "You're being stupid. If you want to win this ridiculous contest you have to make her want to kiss you. We all know you have no self-control around her, but I would have thought you would have made a better effort than this."

James sat in thought for a moment. When he still failed to respond Sirius continued loudly, "Go seduce your girlfriend you moron! It can't be that hard!"

"What if she seduces me first?"

"Then you end up snogging! What a horrible penalty!" shouted Sirius sarcastically and with much anger.

"But I will lose… and have to talk to the Minister…"

"Then by all means continue moping here by yourself!" said Sirius as he strode from the room.

Despite the fact that he was too preoccupied and thick to sense the bitterness latent in Sirius's words, he did manage to get their obvious meaning. His mind began working at a furious pace, trying to remember all the scenarios he had cooked up over the years to try and win Lily's heart.

"Hi James," said Lily smiling confidently. She had a feeling that James's resolve was weakening and had traveled upstairs to find out if she was right. The fact that as she had reached the top of the stairs he came out of his bedroom only solidified her assurance.

"Evans," he acknowledged with a cocky smirk reminiscent of fourth and fifth year.

Lily raised her eyebrow as he continued to approach her, his gait casual yet purposeful. He stopped a few centimeters in front of her and stared down at her, making the height difference between them more apparent than usual.

"I'm not going to cave first," Lily told him firmly, unnerved by his uncharacteristic silence and familiar intense gaze.

James hummed noncommittally.

"Say something!" Lily pleaded. Now _her_ resolve was weakening. She could ignore the cheesy lines, but this was something she had not prepared for. He wasn't undressing her body with his eyes, it was more like he was undressing her _soul_. There was love in his eyes, and lust too, but mostly respect, understanding, admiration, and compassion- the building blocks of a solid relationship. Lost in her musings and even more in his eyes, Lily didn't even realize that he had maneuvered her away from the stairs and down the hallway a bit until her back brushed up against the door to Mr. Potter's thankfully empty study.

Lily's obvious staring turned to one of questioning. James's steady gaze didn't waver, but his smirk became more pronounced. It seemed as if he knew that he had her just where he wanted her- wanting him. Slowly and deliberately he positioned his arms on either side of her body and locked them into place so that she couldn't possibly escape. And then he waited.

His gaze became softer as he took in her features, wandering from her eyes to her brows and forehead, slipping down the side of her face, only briefly glancing at her ears, following the curve of her cheekbone up to the tip of her nose and down the other side, back to her ear lobe and then plunging down to her jaw until finally her lips were the object of his gaze. This was not the first time he had looked so intently, no, that had been one night in the common room during sixth year. He had been sitting studiously in a dark corner when she had escaped the noise of her dorm room and retreated to the quiet downstairs. Frazzled and irritated she hadn't even bothered to look around before spreading her books and parchment over one of the tables. Perhaps if she had she would have positioned herself so that her back was to James; she had a knack for sensing his presence and an ability to shield herself from him. As it was James avoided calling attention to himself and abandoned his textbook in favor of taking this rare moment to stare unabashedly at her. The common room was empty, the hour was late, and she wasn't paying any attention to anything but the essay that was due in eight hours; he took the rare opportunity and ran with it, soaking up every bit of her face.

That night her face was unfamiliar; he didn't know the feel of her cheekbones under his thumb, or the sensation of her smooth jaw under his indulging lips. This night he knew those feelings and so many more he hadn't even dreamed of; he recognized each freckle, knew the shape of her brow, remembered times when her lips were soft against his, pleading, begging for more, and when they were hard, demanding, challenging…

"I knew you were there that night in sixth year," Lily interrupted him quietly as her eyes made their own journey across his handsome features.

"You didn't say anything," said James lowly as he rested his forehead against hers.

"If I had said something I would have had to yell at you; I was playing the role of your enemy then."

"But you weren't really my enemy?"

"No," Lily breathed. "I liked it when you looked at me, so I pretended not to see you so that you would continue. I fancied you so badly, even then."

"Two weeks later you told me to go screw other girls for the summer," mentioned James stonily.

Lily winced. "I was afraid to get involved with you… afraid that you would break my heart and that I would hurt you or because of me you would be hurt. I was also angry that my abilities, burdens whatever you want to call them, seemed to keep me from being able to have a normal relationship."

"No matter what you are or are not, we never would have had a normal relationship," laughed James casually. "Just look at us right now."

Lily smiled. "You think you're doing an awfully good job at seducing me, don't you?"

James grinned as he pulled his head back so that he could fully look at her again. "You're here aren't you?"

"But I'm not here…" said Lily trailed off softly as she traced James's lips with a slender, cool finger that left fire in its wake.

"You will be," promised James.

Lily grinned and bit down on her lower lip, her eyes never leaving James's.

"You are quite the tease," he said easily.

Lily's smile dimly slightly; he wasn't supposed to be so unaffected! Then a mischievous light entered her eyes. Slowly she twisted the doorknob to the study and opened the door. James was momentarily caught off-guard, but was able to maintain his balance and follow Lily into the dimly lit room. The door closed behind him and he heard the lock click faintly.

Then suddenly Lily's fingers found their way to the hem of her sweater. Surely and quickly she pulled it up and over her head, the blouse underneath sticking to it just enough that a strip of her stomach was exposed as it was lifted up.

"I wouldn't exactly say that this is playing fair," commented James with raised eyebrows as he folded his arms over his chest. "You don't see me taking off _my_ clothes to seduce _you_."

"When have I ever played clean?" Lily asked him rhetorically as she dropped the sweater to the ground.

"I hope you never do," voiced James with a smirk.

"I thought so," Lily whispered as she proceeded to unbutton James's shirt.

"You're not really into clothes are you?" teased James as he lifted his arms above his head so she could go to work.

Lily didn't answer as she guided the shirt off of his shoulders and onto the floor. James rapidly sucked in a deep breath when Lily pressed her cold fingertips under his t-shirt and roamed across the planes of his chest. James pulled the t-shirt over his head in one swift movement and encircled Lily's waist with his arms, pulling her close to him.

Lily gasped at the sudden movement, but soon relaxed and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"I can't believe you've lasted this long," she murmured as she gazed up at him.

"You won't last much longer," he assured her quietly, a glint of determination residing firmly in his eyes. A second later her blouse had joined the ever growing pile of clothing on the floor.

"I think you're confusing me with you," Lily mumbled into his ear as she played with the sensitive hairs on the back of his neck.

He closed his eyes and shivered so slightly that Lily wouldn't have noticed had she not been pressed so tightly against him.

"Why not just give in James, you know you will eventually," she cooed into his ear.

"You would have made a good siren in another life," he commented evenly. Where he had found this immense store of self-control was beyond Lily.

"Since when can you resist me?" pouted Lily.

James chuckled and turned his head to look at her. "I've never not been able to control myself around you, I've just always chosen not to. Honestly do you think that if I really couldn't control myself you'd still be a virgin?"

Lily blushed and broke his gaze, hiding her face in his shoulder which, like the rest of James's body, rumbled with his laughter.

"Mo cuishle," he whispered to her as he ran a finger lightly over her carotid artery. This time it was Lily who literally went weak at the knees. Expecting this, James already had a secure arm around her waist that pulled her in so tightly to him that his body served as a strong pillar keeping her upright. James could only grin as he put his other arm around her and lifted her up, placing her bum back down on the edge of his father's desk. Then he moved his head towards hers until their noses were touching. Eyes locked, lips just barely parted, they were breathing the same labored breaths, their chests rising in sync. They had had moments before- moments of passion, moments of understanding, moments of love, but never had they been this connected, this vulnerable.

Finally Lily couldn't stand it any more; her gaze flickered down to James's lips, which automatically arranged in a smug smirk. He had won; he knew it, and she knew it. The only uncertain element was how long it would take Lily to just move her head a centimeter to seal the deal.

Lily concentrated on breathing. In. Out. The rest of her mind was hazy. In. Why wasn't he kissing her already? Out. Damn he was attractive. In. His eyes were pools of warm chocolate. Out. With flecks of caramel. In. She felt like she was melting. Out. Like the chocolate. In. Melting in his eyes. Out. This was nice. In. But snogging would be so much better. Out. But the contest… In. Screw it! Out.

Lily made the move. The smile on James's face was unquenchable. It didn't go away even when three minutes later his dad walked in to find them snogging on his desk only half-clothed.

-----

"Ummm… Lily?" asked Peter hesitantly.

Lily paused in her reading and looked up. "Yeah?"

Peter looked as if he was going to vomit. He had put off this conversation as long as he could, but it was the day before the Christmas Eve ball and he couldn't wait any longer. The only thing that kept him from fainting was the fact that she was alone, a phenomenon all its own.

"I need t-to ask you so-some-something, a f-f-favor," he stuttered, a childhood habit he had abandoned in all times except those of extreme fear.

"What is it Peter?" she asked softly, hoping to reassure him. "Sit down and just tell me."

He sat on the very edge of the chair across from Lily and fidgeted. Then finally he blurted, "Will you kiss me?"

"What?" asked Lily as she fought back a laugh. Did he wake up and ask himself what the fastest way to be executed by one of his best friends was?

"Oh that came out all w-wrong!" Peter said to himself. "I was supposed t-to work u-up to it and tell ya-you the wh-whole story first."

"Go ahead and tell me the story Peter," she said quietly as she reached over and put a hand on his knee because it looked as if he was about to bolt and she was more than a little curious about his request.

"There's this girl-" he began as a smile formed on Lily's face. "Beth. She works in the Ministry with m-m-me. She's pretty, and nice, and smart, and nice, and really really pretty and I l-l-like her a-a-a lot-t."

"But?" asked Lily as Peter paused.

Peter looked down at the ground as a red color began creeping over his cheeks. "I-I-I asked her out and we- well at l-least I- had a really g-gr-great t-t-time, really great. And then we went out a co-couple of more times. And it's been great, really great, really, really, really great. Cause she's great, really great."

"I get that Peter, now what's the problem."

Peter mumbled his next sentence into his chest and Lily was totally unable to decipher it. When she asked him to repeat himself, he worked up that same Gryffindor courage that had enabled him to ask Beth out in the first place and clearly said, "I haven't been able to kiss her, cause I'm no good at it. She's coming to the ball with me tomorrow night and I think that if I don't kiss her then she'll dump me for sure and I don't want her to dump me because she's-"

"Really great," Lily finished for him, her voice quiet and kind. "So you want me to…?"

"Teach me?" said Peter with a wince as he braced himself to be totally rejected and then beaten to a pulp by Lily's boyfriend.

"I don't know Peter…" said Lily uneasily. "It's not as if I could just talk you through it or anything…"

"I know," said Peter desperately. "But I don't know who else to ask. Marlene would just laugh at me and tell everyone, and Alice isn't that experienced herself so that wouldn't work and I can't ask Beth obviously and I don't know any other girls…"

"You've really put some thought into this haven't you?" asked Lily as she carefully surveyed the young man in front of her.

"Yes and I will do anything to get you to help me! Anything," he begged quite pitifully.

"I would have to ask James about this…"

"No!" shouted Peter. "You can't tell him or anyone else! I would never ever live it down! Ever!"

"So you're asking me to kiss you and NOT tell my boyfriend who is also your best friend," said Lily skeptically.

"Yes?"

"I don't know about this Peter…" said Lily, echoing her previous statement.

"Lily," said Peter very seriously. "I only ever kissed one other girl. Matilda Zachary. She was a Hufflepuff two years younger than us- she was a fourth year when I kissed her. It was her first kiss too and after it she burst into tears, told me I was a horrible kisser and that I had forever ruined her first kiss. She probably also told most of Hogwarts about me and my horrible kissing. Since that day I haven't dared to kiss anyone else. Beth is probably one of the few girls that doesn't know my reputation because she was home schooled, and so I actually have a chance with her. Please, please, please, do this for me. I will gladly take any beating that Prongs will dish out and I will take full responsibility I swear on my Marauder's Honor."

Lily sighed deeply. "Fine. I'll do it."

"And you won't tell Prongs?" asked Peter suspiciously.

Lily sighed again. "No, I won't tell him."

"When can we start?!" asked Peter with so much enthusiasm and relief that for a full minute Lily actually stopped hating herself for agreeing to this ridiculous plan.

"We might as well get this over with now. James and Sirius are doing last minute Christmas shopping and probably won't be back for a few more hours seeing as they hadn't even started shopping yet," answered Lily. "Okay, now where to begin," se mused. "I've never done this before so you'll have to bear with me. It's not exactly an easy thing to teach."

"Just do your best," said Peter patiently.

Lily sat in deep contemplation for another couple of minutes and then finally said, "I think the only way for this to work is for you to kiss me and then we'll go from there. But first I think we should move to my room and lock the door so that no one barges in. I can just say that I'm trying on my dress for the ball or something."

Once they were situated Lily said, "Okay, now I'm going to stand here and you just come over and, well, kiss me."

"O-okay. I can d-d-do that. I think."

"Peter!"

"Al-alright."

Then Peter walked until he was about a half a meter away from Lily, closed his eyes, puckered up his lips and in the process scrunched up his whole face and leaned over and pressed his lips against Lily's, nearly missing and almost setting her off balance.

"Okay, okay!" said Lily as she stepped away from Peter when he didn't move. "That wasn't horrible, but we have some work to do."

"Okay," said Peter, looking like a lost puppy who had just been kicked.

"First of all, if you're going to kiss someone you can't stand a kilometer away," she instructed as she stepped toward him until they were only ten or so centimeters apart. "Next don't close your eyes so quickly; I know it's nerve-wracking but hold her gaze as long as you can. And thirdly, don't scrunch up your face… just don't. Now let's try this again."

And he tried again and again and again and again until Lily felt as if she had kissed Peter more often than James that day. And Lily gave him more and more and more and more instructions until she felt as if she had covered every single aspect of kissing there was. But she was a good, though somewhat impatient, teacher, and finally he had mastered the basics.

"Okay," she said as what she hoped was their final kiss ended. As his kissing became more and more like actual kissing, Lily felt guiltier and guiltier. "Excellent job. Beth will be very pleased I think."

"But Lily," said Peter as his momentary elation dissipated. "That wasn't even proper snogging."

"You want me to teach you how to kiss _with tongue_?!" she said aghast. "No way! That you have to figure out on your own!"

"Lily you saw how I started out! You had to coach me to even get this far; do you really think I can figure anything out on my own?" he asked her pleadingly.

"If you want me to teach you this then I'm telling James," stated Lily stubbornly.

"But Lily-"

"No buts. It's your choice. You can leave now and he'll never know or stay, I'll continue instructing you and I'm telling James when he gets home. There is just no way I can snog someone else and not tell him, no matter what the circumstances are," she said firmly.

"Fine. Teach me. Beth is worth the beating," he said pitifully.

"I hope you realize that you may not live to see tomorrow," said Lily seriously.

"Yeah, at my funeral just tell Beth what a good kisser I was…" he said jokingly.

"I would certainly tell her that you died for her," said Lily surprised that Peter was willing to go through with this when he was one of the four people who knew James best.

They were halfway through their snogging lesson when there was a knock at the door. Lily put her finger to her lips to shush Peter and unlocked and then answered the door.

"Hey Vicky," she said she as opened the door halfway. "What's up?"

"I have boy problems," said Vicky as she sighed dramatically. "I brought ice cream so that we could talk all about it!"

"Actually I'm going to have to take a rain check. I was taking advantage of the peace and quiet that only exists when Sirius and James are both out of the house and I'm doing some meditating. I'm days behind and I could really use some Lily time. But when I'm done I'll come find you and then we can gorge ourselves on ice cream and while we're at it I say that we add some whipped cream and toppings and make ourselves proper sundaes!" announced Lily.

"Okay, enjoy your meditation," said Vicky shrugging as she walked away.

Ten minutes later Peter was finally getting the hang of snogging- he had stopped slobbering and actually started moving his tongue around in a way that didn't make Lily gag.

"Lily! We're back!" called James as he entered his home.

"Lesson over!" Lily hissed at Peter as she broke off the kiss and pushed him away. "Make yourself scarce!"

"How?" Peter whispered back, a crazed expression on his face as he heard footsteps on the stairs. If he left Lily's room now James would ask questions and he would eventually crack because he always did…

"Aren't you an animagus?" asked Lily testily over the sounds of the shower coming from her bathroom.

"Oh yeah," said Peter nervously as he began quivering.

"Well then change!" called Lily as she moved out of Peter's vision and began rapidly stripping. "Then hide!"

"Ok, ok," Peter murmured to himself. Of all the times he had ever transformed this was one of the hardest because he was under the most pressure. There was no way James could know about what he had done that afternoon! He wouldn't live to see the sun set!

"Lily?" James asked as he knocked on the door.

Sweat dripped down Peter's human face.

The knob turned.

With a pop Peter was gone and scurried under the dresser.

The door opened.

James stepped in and could now hear the sounds of the shower. He was about to leave when he heard Lily turn the shower off. Grinning like the lovesick Marauder he was, he hopped onto Lily's bed to wait for her to get out of the shower.

"James!" gasped Lily in surprise as she, clad in nothing but a towel, stepped into her bedroom.

James smirked as he got off of his bed and walked over to her, unable to control himself for a moment longer. "Hello love," he said as he kissed her cheek and then left a trail of kisses down her neck and along her shoulder.

Lily closed her eyes and moaned lowly, but was very conscious of the fact that James had left the door open and they weren't even alone to begin with, so she kept a tight grip on her towel.

"Why so stiff?" he asked her playfully as he covered her hands with his own.

"Because you left the door open and anyone of your friends or family members could walk in at any moment," retorted Lily. "Like two days ago."

"That would ruin everything," agreed James as Sirius walked in.

Lily's face instantly turned red as Sirius cut himself off mid-sentence and began babbling as he hurriedly retraced his steps.

"Kind of like that," mumbled Lily as James groaned in disappointment and she retrieved some new clothes out of her bureau.

After Lily returned fully clothed, she lay down on her bed next to James and he put his arm around her waist. "Since the moment was already ruined, I think that now is a good time to tell you something."

"What?" asked James, his eyebrows raised in confusion.

"Well Peter needed me to do him a favor…"

His back to the door, Peter didn't see the fires of hell burning in James's eyes and so didn't move when his bedroom door opened.

"This is not good-" said Peter as he began to quiver upon seeing one of his best friends looking murderous. With a quiet pop, Peter disappeared and the rat that was left in his place scurried under his bed.

"Peter!" thundered James as he rushed toward his retreating friend, nearly knocking Lily, who was right at his heals, down.

James crouched down on one side of the bed and began shooting spells at the frightened rat to flush him out. And flush him out he did. Peter sprinted out via the side opposite of James and was darting to the door, getting singed by the volley of curses and hexes that only nearly missed him, when suddenly he was flying backwards through the air. Much to his relief he ended up in Lily's open palm instead of James's clenched fist. He was joined there by the wand of his fellow Marauder.

James skidded to a stop directly in front of Lily and began clamoring for both his wand and victim.

The shouting attracted Remus and Sirius.

"What's going on?" asked Sirius quizzically as he sauntered in.

"Peter kissed Lily!" James spluttered.

"Pettigrew?" asked Sirius doubtfully.

"Really?" asked Remus skeptically. "Are you sure you aren't drunk?"

"Yes I'm sure!" spat James. "Now Lily hand over the traitor and I'll deal with you later!"

"James Christopher Potter!" yelled Lily. "You will not be 'dealing' with me because you are not some abusive street thug and I am not handing over your _best friend_ because you are not in your right mind right now. Now sit down and let Peter tell you his side of the story, seeing as you wouldn't let me finish. Sit down!" she ordered when James just stood dumbfounded in front of her. "You too Sirius and Remus and anyone who stands up before Peter is finished will answer to **me**."

The three Marauders who were currently human sat down on the floor obediently. Lily then placed Peter on safely on his bed, which caused James to narrow his eyes, but one glare from Lily warned him not to open his mouth. Lily then stood against the doorframe so that she could watch all four boys at once.

Peter clearly wanted to avoid sharing this particular saga with his friends, but he was left with no choice. As he told the whole story there was no laughter. Lily couldn't tell what she thought would have been worse: everyone laughing at Peter, or all of them staring at him stonily. As she watched the scene unfold she decided that the staring was worse because at least laughter would have been indicative that there were all still friends.

At the very end Lily was holding her breath because no one was moving. Then Sirius laughed. Remus joined in. James finally let it out. Peter blushed but looked relieved.

After a few minutes of solid laughter and comments that provoked more laughter, Sirius turned to Lily and said, "You are the only girl who has kissed all four Marauders."

"That can't be right," said James confused. "Have you really kissed all of us?"

Lily contemplated it for a moment, recalling the Marauder kissing instances and then tallied them up. She slowly nodded and said, "Yeah I have kissed all of you blokes."

James exchanged a sly glance with Sirius and then Sirius asked, "So who is the best kisser? We've always wondered but never had any real way of knowing."

"I protest!" exclaimed Remus. "Lily and I kissed during that crazy fake relationship we had at the beginning of seventh year and we only did it because Prongs was walking by. I say that that doesn't count and I get a re-do."

"Well then I get a re-do too!" stated Peter.

James turned to Sirius, "Would you like one too?"

Sirius pondered the thought for a moment and then with a grin said, "Nope. I am satisfied with my previous performance."

Lily blushed as she thought back to that particular night. That had been a good snog…

"Ha!" shouted Sirius. "She's blushing just thinking about it! I say that that automatically makes me the winner!"

James scoffed. "And you think that I haven't made her blush before?"

"She's a redhead- she blushes at everything!" protested Remus. "Therefore it cannot be counted as a measurement of skill."

"You do realize that you blokes are all bonkers don't you?" asked Lily. This was certainly ending up a much weirder day than she had anticipated.

"Lily," said Sirius seriously. "There are many competitions within our group based on things that are important to us. For example, height, weight lifting, lung capacity, tree climbing ability… etc."

"I win in height and lung capacity," Remus stated.

"I climb trees faster and go higher than anyone else and I can lift the most," Sirius offered up.

"Funny how you didn't mention any of the categories that I have won in," said James as he nudged Sirius.

"Or me," Peter added in.

"And what do you two win at," questioned Lily.

Judging from three of the Marauder's chuckles and obvious glances towards a particular part of James's anatomy and James's cocky grin, Lily could take a guess at his claim to fame.

"I also run the fastest, and am the best kisser," boasted James.

"That has yet to be proven!" yelled Sirius and Remus at the same time.

"My girlfriend is the judge, you might as well give up now!" proclaimed James.

"So you think that just because I'm dating you I won't be fair?" questioned Lily intently.

"Well… yes!" laughed James.

"Think again you prick!" said Lily heatedly. "Here's how we're going to do this: you each get one minute to kiss me and the best kiss wins. I will only be judging you on this one minute and this one minute only."

"Hey, we've got to have some sort of rules here," began James. "No touching boobs or butt and no kissing beneath her shoulders."

Slightly rethinking his game plan, Sirius nodded, taking it all in stride and then added, "But you have to follow your own rules; in this competition we're all equals."

"What?! **I**, unlike you blokes, have earned boob and butt privileges," protested James.

Lily rolled her eyes and addressing her lovely boyfriend saucily informed him that those same privileges had recently been revoked due to his overwhelming pratness. James found this incredibly unfair and rather disappointing. His friends found it hilarious and used their uproarious laughter to let him know.

"Oh great now he's in one of his surly moods," remarked Remus after the laughter had subsided. "There is no way that I can kiss his girlfriend when he's in this kind of mood; it infects everything. I just can't work under these conditions."

"Wait! Why would Prongs be in the room?" asked Peter horrified.

"There's no way that would work," stated Sirius. "We each get a minute _alone_ with Lily."

"And there's no way that I'm going to allow that!" exclaimed James. "How would I be sure that you lads were behaving yourselves?"

"I'll be the judge of that and you will just have to trust me," said Lily silkily as she poked James in the chest with each word to emphasize her point.

"I don't like this," James said lowly to Lily.

"I was not the one who suggested this whole crazy competition-game-thingy," Lily informed him, looking him straight in the eye. "You either go through with this or **you** call it off."

Sensing the deeper challenge, James backed down saying, "I trust you love." Then he kissed her cheek softly and amid calls of foul play and cheating, James announced, "I call going last."

"Might as well get this over with; I'll go first," volunteered Peter.

"Ouch Peter! I'm hurt!" joked Lily.

Peter turned red, but didn't comment further.

Sirius turned to Remus and said, "After you sir."

"Absolutely," replied Remus just as politely. "I wouldn't want to go right before Prongs; one might become... forgotten or overshadowed."

"You know mate, I think Prongs has the same fears about going after **me**," Sirius stage-whispered to Remus.

James swiped Sirius as he led everyone but Peter and Lily from the room.

"Time starts now Wormtail!" called Remus through the closed door.

"Time for what?" asked Vicky as she entered the hall.

The Marauders exchanged glances; they still weren't sure how much they could trust this new girl. But Lily obviously trusted her and they trusted Lily…

Finally Sirius answered. "Kissing competition."

"And Lily is the judge," Vicky accurately guessed.

"Yup," answered Remus shortly.

"And Jealous McJealous-Pants over there is okay with his best friends all kissing his girlfriend?" she asked as she gestured to James.

"He's more okay with it when he's not reminded of it," said Sirius curtly and with much annoyance. "So if you don't have anything positive to say just move along."

Vicky stuttered for a moment at the harsh tone, but soon recovered both her tongue and her cool façade. She sauntered by the line of boys who were sitting against the wall outside of Lily's room and then paused at her own doorway. She turned on her heel and addressed the three young men.

"You've all thought about how the jealous boyfriend Potter might feel about this little game of yours, but did any of you spend a moment contemplating how _Lily_ might feel about being passed from one friend to another like some inflatable plaything?"

Her words were no louder than the gentle thud of the door closing behind her, but they quickly pierced the Marauders' awareness.

"She doesn't feel that way does she?" asked Sirius in a voice only slightly louder than a whisper to avoid being overheard by either nearby female.

"Merlin," said Remus aghast. "I can't believe what I'm hearing; it sounded like _Sirius Black_ actually cared about a girl's feelings."

"Lily's not a girl…" muttered Sirius.

"I can personally verify that Lily is, in fact, a girl," stated James jovially.

"I'm sure you can," laughed Remus. "Time's up Pettigrew! My turn!"

"Oh buck up Padfoot," said James as he nudged him after the Peter took Remus's place on the floor. "If she didn't want to do this then she wouldn't do it."

"And it's not like she hasn't kissed loads of blokes before," Peter chimed in. "No one is born _that_ good at snogging, so she's obviously had loads of experience."

"Thank you for stating that twice Wormtail," said James dryly as he glared at his best mate.

Sirius suddenly burst out laughing.

James laughed just because Sirius was laughing.

Peter didn't get what was so funny so he laughed.

"What?" asked James.

"Two years ago you knew hardly anything about Lily. You had no idea that she had problems with her family, or was basically a serial dater, or that she was fairly well depressed. You had no idea what you were getting yourself into!" laughed Sirius. "Anyway lads, Lupin's time is up and it's my turn!"

"I don't regret getting involved," said James softly as he stared at his knees after Remus had replaced Sirius.

"Did you ever think you'd get this far?" Peter asked him.

James shook his head slightly and said, "I never imagined I'd fall this hard for her. Sure I fancied her, but I never never thought… no at the beginning I had no idea that she even fancied me back, never mind would end up living here with me."

"It's funny how life works out sometimes," mused Remus.

"So Wormtail, so this Beth girl, the one you nearly sacrificed your life for, she's coming to the ball tomorrow night?" asked James.

"Yeah," said Peter nervously.

"Good," James grinned deviously. "Can't wait to meet her and welcome her to the family."

"He'll play nice I promise Peter," said Lily from the doorway to her room.

"Padfoot, you still have five seconds left," stated Remus quizzically.

"Didn't need it," he said cockily as he sat down again.

After James had followed Lily into her bedroom, Remus asked his friends, "So really do we have any shot of actually winning this?"

"Probably not," answered Peter as Sirius said, "I don't know about you two, but I definitely do."

"You can't possibly think that Lily would pick you over her boyfriend," said Remus skeptically.

"She'll pick the best kisser and I believe that I am him," said Sirius confidently.

Remus looked Sirius over for a minute and the dismissively stated. "Not possible. Your nose is too big."

"What?" shouted Sirius in shock.

Peter, eager to upset the cocky young man next to him, took a long look at Sirius's face and then nodded. "Moony is right; with a nose that big there's no way you could be the best kisser."

"Hordes of women swoon at the sight of this face, nose included!" boasted Sirius defensively.

"When was the last time you even _saw_ a 'horde of women'?" Remus asked him.

"Yesterday."

"Lily and Vicky do not constitute a 'horde,'" Remus informed him.

"Yeah but Alice, Marlene, Lily and Vicky do," Sirius shot back.

"I think a horde is at least eight people," said Peter.

"And even if they _were_ a horde, they certainly didn't swoon at the sight of you," Remus added. "Time's up Prongs!"

"Lily, is my nose too big?" Sirius asked the blushing redhead as she walked into the hallway.

Lily scrutinized his face for a minute and then said, "Not really, I guess it suits your face…"

"What does that mean?!" asked the frustrated narcissist.

"Ignore him," suggested Remus. "So who is the winner?"

"She can't decide," said James testily as he relaxed against the doorframe.

"You're all very different and it comes down to a matter of opinion. Therefore I'm going to get some advice from a few more girls and we'll reach a consensus," explained Lily as she walked to Vicky's door and knocked on it.

"Come on I need you," said Lily as she grabbed her friend.

"Okay," she said as she allowed herself to be pulled out of her room and down the hallway.

Twenty minutes later four teenaged girls were gathered in one of the McKinnon's parlors. Three were confused, one was pacing.

"So what is this all about?" asked Marlene finally.

"I've snogged all of the Marauders," Lily blurted out as she faced her friends.

"Even Peter?" asked Marlene as she scrunched up her face in disgust. "Ewww."

"It was one of their bloody stupid competitions," spat Lily.

"Like who can get the most detentions in one day, or whose file in Filch's office is thickest," Alice explained to Vicky.

"Actually around fifth year Filch actually had to add more folders and so the contest extended to number as well as combined thickness," corrected Marlene.

"They also have dumber ones like who can hold their breath the longest," Lily told them.

"Back to today's contest," said Vicky. "Who was the best kisser?"

"That's the problem- I don't know!" cried Lily as she sank into an armchair dramatically.

"Isn't it James?" asked Alice confusedly.

"Well I _enjoyed_ snogging him the most because I'm in love with him, but _technically_ speaking all four were good."

"Even Peter?" repeated Marlene.

"He wasn't bad," Lily amended.

"So what do you want from us?" asked Vicky.

"Well I want to take a vote. I'll give you guys the details and you tell me which kiss you think is the best," explained Lily.

"This sounds juicy," gasped Marlene excitedly. "Spill!"

"So Peter was obviously nervous, but under the circumstances it was understandable. He stood as far away from me as possible and didn't touch me at all really. The kiss itself was short but sweet, and he actually lingered there for a minute afterwards. It was sweet- you know he opened his eyes and just looked at me for a minute… then he blushed and stuttered and stepped back.

"Remus was really good. I think people don't think of him like that because James and Sirius are so much more well known for being ladies' men, but he definitely knows what he's doing. He immediately took charge of the situation; actually surprised me, like I actually gasped. He put one arm around my waist and pulled me against him and then intertwined the fingers of his other hand in my hair. That kiss was very long, long and slow and gentle, very much Remus.

"James was, well James seemed off his game, like he was trying too hard. He was… rough with me, and he usually isn't. It was like he was trying to prove a point. He was actually the only one who kissed me with tongue. He moved fast; he grabbed me and crashed his lips against mine and as I was gasping because I was taken aback he… well he put his tongue in my mouth.

"Sirius is truly a master," she sighed as Marlene nodded in agreement. "Like Remus he put one around around my waist, but he dipped me. And then he said, 'I love you Lils,' and kissed my cheek. Then he smiled at me and set me back on my feet."

"Sirius loves you?" gaped Marlene. "What's really going on between you?"

Lily scrunched up in forehead in confusion. "Sirius and I tell each other that we love each other all the time. It's no big deal."

"It **is** a big deal," said Marlene breathily. "We went out for months and he never said anything close to that to me."

Lily laughed. "We're not **in** love with each other, we just love each other as like… brother and sister."

"It's still amazing that the two of you can admit that to each other," said Marlene snippily. "You're both so emotionally crippled it's pathetic."

"I think Sirius or Remus win," said Vicky quietly. "From the way you described them they were best."

"My vote is for Sirius; he was very sweet, and considerate of your feelings and your relationship, both with him and with James," said Alice.

"I vote for Remus," stated Marlene harshly. "He acted like a man; he took charge and he kissed you, but he wasn't a creeper or anything. He was sensitive and gentle, but confident and comfortable at the same time. You made him sound so good, I might go and snog him myself!"

"Regardless," began Vicky. "You have to say Potter wins; he's your boyfriend."

"She's right," sighed Alice. "He's way too competitive to take losing sitting down."

"And he's way too jealous to have agreed to this unless he expected to win," commented Marlene.

"But I can't lie, he wasn't the best," said Lily. "I think Alice is right- Sirius was best. He was so sweet that I actually got butterflies, and he made me giggle like those third year girls that used to follow the Marauders around."

"Now the only question is how to break it to Potter," Vicky accurately pinpointed. "I would suggest a hit and run scenario."

"What if you told each of them that they won?" asked Alice hopefully.

"That ruse wouldn't last long," said Marlene absently. "There is no way the winner wouldn't brag about it."

"I'll just do it by vote," said Lily hopefully.

"You and Alice vote for Sirius, Marlene votes for Remus, and I vote for James," said Vicky sadly. "Sirius wins."

"Unless I vote for Peter," joked Lily.

"You could disqualify Sirius for not properly kissing you," suggested Marlene.

"It's just a silly contest; it doesn't really matter. What really matters is your relationship with James which will suffer if you pick anyone else," said Vicky bluntly. "And none of them honestly believe you'd pick anyone else anyway."

"Announce that James won and then just secretly tell Sirius that he won. He would be able to not tell anyone if you asked him not to. He would understand," said Alice.

Lily smiled in relief. "That's perfect Alice!"

Alice beamed happily.

Lily and Vicky returned to Potter Manor where Lily made her announcement. The news was met by half-hearted groans and laughter from three Marauders and a cry of victory followed by a victory snog from the fourth.

Later Sirius was informed and sworn to secrecy. He understood perfectly and was glad that Lily told him the truth.

**A/N. Hope you enjoyed it! Some questions for you my lovely reviewers:**

**There were a lot of funny and sweet lines in this chapter. Do you have a favorite?**

**Which Marauder would you have voted for in the kissing contest?**

**I know that a lot of people are on the fence about Vicky, how do you feel about her after this chapter?**

**What do you think about Peter's request for kissing lessons? Lily's agreement? James's reaction?**

**What do you think about Peter having a girlfriend?**

**Next chapter is the Christmas Eve Ball. Any predictions? Hopes? Fears?**

**Thank you all in advance!**

**-AAA**


	53. Christmas Magic

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Harry Potter or Harry Potter related copyrights.**

The next evening Potter Manor, as well as its inhabitants, was looking its best. Golden garland was draped over every doorway, thousands of lit candles floated in glittering golden candlesticks, and sparkly silver ribbons adorned the gilded frames that housed the many deceased Potter family members. Every mirror shone, the marble floors glistened, and the furniture gleamed. In a word it was…

"Magnificent," murmured Harry Potter as he watched Eileen, Marilyn and Lily descend the grand staircase. He was certain that his brother and nephew would have agreed with him had they been there, but unfortunately they were currently in a meeting with the Minister, Head Auror, and the director of Law Enforcement.

"She fits in there," Remus muttered to Sirius as he too watched the three women.

"Really it's only a matter of making things official; at heart she's already as much of a Potter as James is," Sirius commented.

"Did he get her a ring for Christmas?" Remus asked in a whisper.

"No," said Sirius in disappointment. "I wonder what's taking him so long."

"It took him six years to get her to date him, hopefully it won't take that long to get her to marry him," joked Remus.

"I think we need to have a serious chat with our lad Prongs," grinned Sirius. "I want to know what's going underneath that scruffy mop that he calls hair."

"Now you wouldn't be talking about me, would you Padfoot?" asked James as he seemingly appeared out of nowhere.

"Course not Prongs! I was clearly talking about Moony," he lied easily.

"Sure you were," James snorted softly. "And who exactly is Remus planning on marrying?"

"Vicky," answered Sirius without thinking.

"Yes?" said Vicky her eyebrow raised. The Marauders were seriously slacking in their surveillance efforts. Only a year ago no one would have been able to sneak up on them and now they had been caught unaware twice in as many minutes.

"Uhhh…" said Sirius intelligently. "My lying skills are so rusty it's embarrassing! Will you kindly give me a few minutes to come up with a suitable story for you?"

"Or you could just tell me the truth," countered Vicky dangerously.

"How did the meeting go?" Lily asked James, diffusing the situation.

"Fine, no big deal at all. They only want me to impress this Swedish bloke. He's the son of the Head Auror of Sweden, who is potentially going to send some aurors to us to help in the war. So my job is basically to make sure that he's happy so that he goes back to _daddy_ and tells him to send us some help," explained James in an annoyed tone.

"Son of the Head Auror of Sweden?" asked Vicky, her face a shade paler than usual.

"Yeah," said James off-handedly. "Know him?"

"Yeah, he's an ass," stated Vicky bluntly. "He goes to the Institute."

"Do you know him?" James asked Lily hopefully. Things would be so easy if the Swedish guy and Lily were already friends.

"Not very well," said Lily evenly, her face impassive.

"Ok places everyone!" called Mrs. Potter frantically as she clapped her gloved hands together.

"Thanks our cue to leave," Sirius told Vicky as he half guided and half pushed her into the ballroom. "It's also the cue to start drinking!"

"You've been to a lot of these, right?" Vicky asked Remus nervously as Sirius wandered off toward the alcohol.

"Yeah, you could say that," shrugged Remus.

"Can you help me through this?" Vicky asked in an uncharacteristic soft voice. "I've never been to anything like this before."

"Ummm…" said Remus as he cast his gaze wildly around, hoping that someone to whom he could hand Vicky off would materialize. Seeing no one, he replied, "I guess."

"Hey Remus," said Vicky, as she bit her lip, a sign that she was uneasy or concentrating. "I'm sorry."

"For what?" he asked her sharply.

"For everything," she stated. "I think I offended you and I really didn't mean to, so I am sorry. I really want us to be friends again."

"Friends?" Remus asked himself aloud, letting the word linger on his lips as he tasted it. "I would like that," he finally answered after what seemed like an age to Vicky. He wore a wide grin, neither Marauder mischievous nor perfect score ecstatic but a completely new arrangement of his facial features. Vicky's smile was likewise unique. Unlike her usual grins, this smile was small and coy so as not to overshadow the real smiling that existed in her soft brown eyes.

"And so you'll stick by me tonight? I mean like glue because I am lost here and I really don't want to make a fool of myself and I will if someone doesn't shut me up and tell me which fork to use or how to dance properly and normally I would ask Lily, especially since she's a pro at this sort of stuff, but she has her own agenda and she can't be stringing me along all night and Sirius looks like he's halfway to drunk already and I bet he would rather sabotage me for the ha-ha's than help-"

Remus possesses the patience of a caretaker of pre-school aged children, but even he had his limits. Gently, yet firmly, he took her hand in his and squeezed it. "This is me telling you to shut up."

Vicky looked confused for a moment, but then her features quickly melted to relief. "Oh good, I was starting to think-"

"You're about to start rambling," stated Remus as he placed her arm in his and started to stroll with her around the room. "Instead take a deep breath and count to ten, in Farsi."

"I don't know Farsi," mumbled Vicky.

Remus cast her a sidelong glance. "Then it's going to take you a while, now isn't it? Here, take this," he transitioned smoothly. "Whenever you don't know what to say, take a sip of champagne and I'll intercede. It's code. The other half of the code is that when I squeeze your arm or make any other sort of contact you stop talking. At dinner you do what I do, when I do it."

"Ok I think this might actually work," said Vicky as she took a deep calming breath. "Thanks Remus. I owe you one."

"I'm sure I'll find someway for you to repay me," he said with a smirk as the first few guests began trickling in.

-----

"I have never liked these things," Harry whispered to Lily as they stood in line, waiting for the guests to enter. He scratched his neck where his extremely starched collar was irritating the skin. "That's why last Christmas Eve Eileen and I went away."

Lily just smiled demurely, pretending she hadn't heard him.

"I would love to just punch some of these asswipes in the face instead of shaking their hands," continued Harry, despite the fact that his wife was pinching him to make him stop. "I don't even know why I'm in this line-up. Some years I feel like a criminal, others a firing squad, and lately it's like I'm at a funeral."

"It's better to be at something _like_ a funeral than to be _at_ a funeral," Lily said softly, her face still the serene calm of a practiced socialite.

"Too true my dear," said Harry as he straightened up and played his part in the centuries old tradition of Christmas Eve at Potter Manor.

Diplomats, Ministry officials, politicians, the rich, the famous, and the aurors streamed through the entrance hall, appropriately shaking and kissing the hands of the Potter family.

"Nice to see you again Frank," said James warmly as he shook Frank's hand. "You remember my girlfriend, Lily? You look lovely Alice."

Alice blushed as James kissed her hand, and could barely formulate a sentence when Lily greeted her with a very delicate hug.

"You look amazing Alice," Lily complimented her kindly. "I hope you both have a wonderful evening."

Lily's smile actually reached her eyes as she watched Frank lead his date away, his arm securely on her waist. James watched Lily for a moment while Christopher held up the next guest with a few more words than usual. He took the opportunity to wrap his arm around her waist and pull her closer to his side so that he could whisper in her ear, "You look utterly amazing in that dress, but truly the only thing I can think about is taking it off of you."

Lily restrained herself from giggling aloud, but she was powerless against the vibrant blush that painted her cheeks.

James uttered a short and quiet self-satisfied chuckle as he released her and returned to the task at hand.

"Fredrik, this is my son James, James this is Fredrik Nordin, the son of Head Auror Nordin of Sweden," Christopher said gravely.

"A pleasure to meet you," replied James cordially as he extended his hand.

"Believe me, the pleasure is all mine," replied the handsome young Swede darkly.

"This is my girlfriend Lily Evans," said James.

"Tales of your beauty and intelligence know not the boundaries of country or continent," said Fredrik loftily as he bent to kiss the hand that was offered out of loyalty to her adopted family. Were she alone she would have spat in his face for uttering such words.

Lily did not have the words to respond. The blush in her cheeks was replaced by a ghostly complexion as she turned her head away and her gaze fell to the floor.

"Harry Potter," said Harry gruffly as he introduced himself, breaking the concentration of the man who still held Lily's hand to his lips.

"Fredrik Nordin," he replied as he took the extended hand, yet did not take his gaze off of Lily.

"What's wrong?" whispered James between greetings.

"That was Teddy," gasped Lily painfully.

If James had not been trained since birth on how to act in public situations, especially the Christmas Eve ball, he would have had some sort of dramatic outburst. As it was, his manners were set in stone and he was able to continue smiling and nodding and shaking hands even though it felt like his organs were on fire.

"You look lovely Marlene," said James graciously as he kissed her cheek.

"Thank you Potter, you don't look half bad," said Marlene snippily, though her good-natured smile gave her away. "Of course you don't look nearly as attractive as your marvelous date."

"We've got trouble, Teddy from the Institute," hissed Lily through her smile as she hugged Marlene. "I need you to try and keep him away from me. Be seductive!"

"You want me to _flirt_ with your enemy?" Marlene hissed through her tight smile.

"Enjoy the party," said Lily smiling meaningfully.

Marlene finished the greeting line and made a beeline for Vicky to formulate a plan of attack for the Teddy situation.

Sometime later Sirius approached Remus and Vicky who were trying not to attract attention to themselves.

"Hey guys," said Sirius as he joined them. "Vicky, you're one of Lily's friends, tell me, has she mentioned anything about getting married?"

"To who?" laughed Vicky.

"James of course," said Sirius defensively, his face contorted in confusion and disappointment.

Reacting to the slight pressure on her elbow, Vicky politely answered, "No she hasn't said anything. Why do you ask?"

"Sirius is convinced that James is going to propose to her tomorrow morning," answered Remus.

Vicky's eyes went wide. Remus looked at Sirius pointedly.

"That only means that it will be a surprise for Lily," stated Sirius firmly. "James is just keeping this under wraps better than I thought."

"I don't think that he's going to ask her…" said Vicky slowly and softly.

"They've been dating for over a year and everyone knows that he's been in love with her for at least three," Sirius argued.

"She isn't ready to get married," Vicky replied nicely, the hand on her elbow the only thing that was keeping her temper in check.

"Well I'm not saying that they should get married _tomorrow_."

"I just don't think it's in the cards this Christmas, maybe next year."

"I bet you all of my Christmas presents that he gives her an engagement ring for Christmas. He loves her more than anything else in the world and he desperately wants to marry her. Plus it would make him feel better if she went back to school wearing a ring," said Sirius confidently.

Vicky was about to disagree when James approached and grabbed Sirius's forearm. "Can I have a word?!" he hissed angrily.

"Sure Prongs, what's up?" asked Sirius casually as James dropped his arm rapidly and violently once they were in the kitchen.

"I would really appreciate it if you would stop talking about rings and marriage within hearing of my girlfriend," he snapped.

"Oh I get it," Sirius said conspiratorially. "I would want to surprise her too."

"You're the only one who is going to be surprised!" said James exasperatedly.

"What do you mean?"

"I did not get Lily a ring for Christmas!" James shouted so loudly it could be heard over the bustle of the house elves.

"What do you mean?" echoed Sirius. "Why not?"

"Because we're eighteen bloody years old! The better question is why the hell you thought we were getting married," James said, lowering his voice as he regained control.

"You've been dating for so long and you love each other…"

"And we live on different continents," James pointed out bitterly. "And we've only been dating for over a year, she hated me for longer than that. And my dad has forbidden me from marrying her."

"He also told you to break up with her, and yet he allows her to live in the house…"

"I don't think he's going to budge on this one as easily. I would be the first Potter heir to ever marry a woman who wasn't a pureblood. I would end a thousand years of tradition and I think my father is never going to accept that."

"So what are you going to do?" asked Sirius angrily. "String Lily along for years and then suddenly dump her when you decide it's time for you to get married?"

"Of course not!" shouted James, aghast. "I just need more time. My dad may never accept the ending of the pureblood tradition, but I think in time he may be willing to overlook it. He loves Lily too I think."

"Of course he does! I can't count on my fingers how many times I've run across the two of them discussing books and politics and their lives! I noticed it starting a bit at the end of the summer, but since she's been back I see her in his office or the library every morning. He's fallen for her as hard as you have! He's got to let you marry her! He will; just ask her and he will!" pleaded Sirius.

"Why does this mean so much to you?" asked James insightfully.

"Forget it," mumbled Sirius as he turned away.

"No," refused James as he turned Sirius back. "Tell me."

Sirius sighed. "You want her to stay here right? If you were married she wouldn't go back to school. Instead of seeing her every three months for two weeks you would see her every weekend when you went home from training. I find it amazing that you didn't think of that sooner."

James's sighed carried twice the sadness and regret that Sirius's did. "There is nothing I could ever offer her that would keep her here. And even if there was something I could do I wouldn't because she would be so unhappy here it would break her heart and mine."

"I think you're wrong. She would stay if you asked her to."

"Dammit Padfoot don't you think I asked?!" shouted James, his anger rising back up to the surface. "Of course I didn't want her to go away! I begged, I pleaded, I promised her the world and more not to go. She went anyway! And on January first, she will leave again."

"Things can never be easy for the two of you," commented Sirius with a short laugh.

James echoed his hollow and joyless laughter. "You know it's the tough stuff that holds us together when it's easy. If it was always like when we first started dating- easy, shallow, purely infatuation- then we would never be where we are now. The tough stuff is worth it just because it makes me appreciate the easy moments."

"Tonight's not going to be easy. Marlene told me that Teddy is here and he's the guy you have to impress…"

James sighed. "Lily asked Marlene to stick by him. Last I checked she was doing a pretty good job and he looked pissed so I'm guessing that Lily has been doing a good job at avoiding him… but I really should go and talk to him…"

"How are you going to do that?"

"Pretend I have no idea who he is and that Lily never told me about him, because if I think about that stuff I will surely kill him in the most violent ways I can think of," said James casually as he began his return to the ballroom.

"Well let me know if you have to kill him because I want in. What kind of best mate would I be if I let you go to Azkaban alone?" joked Sirius.

"Mate, you do know that we would never actually make it to Azkaban because Lily would kill us for getting arrested first," jested James.

"Honestly I think I would rather face the dementors!"

"I hope you have your wand ready," growled James as he stood in the entrance to the ballroom only to see through the floor length windows that ran the length of the terrace that Teddy had cornered Lily outside.

His gaze never leaving his girlfriend, James made his way across the dance floor as fast as he could. Unfortunately every person that was remotely close decided that they had to cross the dance floor right in front of him and his progress was slow. By the time that James exited the house and arrived on the terrace, Teddy was lying on the ground clutching his groin and spurting blood from what James guessed was a broken nose.

Breathing heavily Lily turned her furious gaze away from her victim and smiled sweetly at James.

"Yup, definitely would take the dementors over her," Sirius muttered into James's ear.

"What happened here?!" gasped the newly arrived Prime Minster.

"She attacked me!" spat Teddy, aka Fredrik Nordin.

"He was sexually assaulting me," cried Lily as tears started to trickle down her cheeks. "I was so scared and I didn't know what to do! I asked him nicely to move and when he wouldn't I just freaked out! I didn't mean to really hurt him!"

To add to the drama of her performance Lily ran into James's arms and began sobbing on his shoulder.

"She's lying!" shouted Teddy who was torn between the fact that lying on the ground at the feet of his opponent made him look weak, and the fact that standing up would make it seem like he wasn't hurt and therefore Lily would not seem guilty. "I was being completely and totally friendly! Nothing more!"

Lily just sobbed harder.

"Minister, if I may, it did appear to me that the man was distressing the poor girl," said Sirius gravely. "I came out here to help, but by the time I arrived she had succeeded in saving herself."

"He's lying too!" protested Teddy as he stood up. "At this rate my report about the British people will be most unfavorable, and my father won't send a single auror!"

"At this rate, our impression of the Swedish isn't very good either," commented James as he pointedly looked at the still shaking and crying young woman who was clutching him tightly and with great desperation.

"Perhaps it would be best if we all just put this behind us," said the Minister diplomatically. "I believe that mistakes were made on all sides and that for the sake of the friendship we should employ forgiveness. Dry your eyes Miss Evans and I will send a Healer to fix your nose Mr. Nordin. Also you seem like the same size as Mr. Potter, so I'm sure that he would be more than willing to lend you a new dress shirt. That is all."

That was all. The Minister gestured to the four teenagers to leave and follow their orders. They weren't happy about it, but they didn't dare to disobey. To be sure James fairly well threw the shirt at Teddy and Lily healed his nose but not without palpating it extensively first.

Once "amends" had been made, James stayed by Lily's side; he was determined that Teddy wouldn't catch her unguarded again. It worked for the rest of the social hour and throughout the delicious dinner feast which went off without a hitch, partly due to Remus's tutoring of Vicky who somehow managed to avoid calling attention to herself despite several social faux pas.

The first waltz also went off incredibly smoothly. James was once again reminded how enormously lucky he was to have Lily; although she had been born into a much different life, she had stitched herself so fully into his world that it was like she had been there the whole time. He grinned as he happened to catch the jealous glare Teddy sent him. In retaliation he pulled Lily even closer as they danced.

James's grin only faltered as he caught a few wisps of conversations as he twirled around the room with Lily. He only heard a few words and phrases but they were enough to give him a clear idea of the discussion.

_Christmas proposal. Summer wedding. Engagement. Ring. Husband. Wife. Baby._

James was going to kill Sirius. The thought of getting revenge was enough to make the smile on his face believable.

James didn't know whether or not Lily was paying attention to their surroundings, his guess was that she wasn't because she had become accustomed to only hearing negative things whispered about her and so ignored most people as often as she could. The plan was to keep her in the dark, so James engaged her in a whispered conversation.

"You look amazing," was the first thing that came to mind.

"Thank you," she said simply.

"And you are an excellent dance partner," he added as the hand that was on her waist began creeping down to her hip.

"And you are trying to distract me," Lily pointed out, a smug smile on her lips and a sparkle in her eye.

"Me?" asked James aghast. "I would never do such a thing."

Lily laughed under her breath. "I know that you are, I just don't know why. But I must say that you've gotten better at trying to distract me than that time you asked me to go for a walk with you, last October during the exchange ball. That was a pathetic attempt I must say."

"You haven't gotten any less perceptive," observed James. 

"You are avoiding my question."

"You haven't asked one."

"Why are you trying to distract me?" asked Lily sweetly as she gazed directly into James's eyes.

_Oh crap._ Thought James. _It's so hard to lie to her when she looks at me like that_.

James sighed and looked over her shoulder, seemingly at the culprits he spoke about. "Oh you know the usual; I think Narcissa Black is spreading rumors about you and I heard a few words here and there. I didn't want you to hear them."

Somehow satisfied by his answer, Lily replied, "You know I don't pay any attention to them anymore. You were actually distracting me much better before you started trying to distract me. I didn't hear a thing."

James smiled at her, but had a foreboding feeling in his stomach as the song ended. He knew he couldn't keep her in the dark forever.

He was right. He was pulled away by his father to meet someone or other, and when he returned twenty minutes later Lily looked much too calm.

"You know, James," she said, anger infecting her words. James grabbed a flute of champagne as the tray went by and downed it in one gulp. "In the muggle world we have this crazy custom of informing the bride about her wedding _before_ the rest of the world!"

"Lily," began James soothingly. "I didn't start this rumor, and trust me, it is **only** a **rumor**. In fact it's not even a rumor because rumors are based on the truth."

Lily exhaled huffily. "So you're not going to propose to me tomorrow morning?"

"On my Marauder's honor I swear that I will not," said James with a smile, though deep in his gut he wish that he _was_ going to "pop the question" in a matter of hours.

"Good," said Lily relieved. "Because my feelings on getting married haven't changed since May."

"I know," James assured her quietly, his smile soft and understanding.

Lily smiled as she stroked his cheek softly. "I love you."

"I know," smirked James as he pulled her close and landed a chaste kiss on her lips.

"Hey lover boy," joked Sirius as he clapped James on the shoulder. "Your dad is wondering why you aren't kissing the ass of Mr. Teddy Bear to serve your country."

James groaned and reluctantly stepped away from Lily, the arm that was around her falling limply to his side. "Lily stay with Sirius, and I'll deal with Mr. Nordin."

"I think he prefers Mr. Bear," joked Sirius. "First name Teddy, last name Bear."

Lily grinned at Sirius. "I thought it was clever too."

"Have fun kissing Mr. Bear's furry arse," laughed Sirius as he wrapped an arm around Lily's shoulders. "We'll be just fine right here."

James glared at the pair as Lily cutely wiggled her fingers in good-bye.

Only a minute after he stalked off, Marlene sauntered by, throwing a coquettish grin at Sirius as she went.

"She's been looking at me like that all night," said Sirius with a frustrated sigh. "What does she want from me?!"

"Well my first guess would be some casual snogging… second guess would be non-casual snogging," Lily informed him. "Isn't that what the two of you have been doing since you ended your relationship?"

"Yeah, I just thought… well she hadn't said anything or seemed interested since… well since she snogged Prongs at the start of the summer," said Sirius uncertainly.

"I think this is her making a move and showing you she's interested," hypothesized Lily. "I don't think she's quite ready to be done with you yet."

"In that case," said Sirius with a grin. "Please excuse me. Don't get into any trouble or Prongs will have my head on a platter."

"Usually trouble finds me, but I'll do my best to stay out of its way," Lily promised.

Sirius chuckled and then disappeared into the crowd around the edge of the dance floor to find his attractive snogging partner.

Lily deftly avoided any trouble for over a half hour, but as usual trouble soon crashed into her. She was standing quietly at the edge of the dance floor alone because Alice had just been pulled away to dance by Frank. A slight smile was played out on her lips as she watched her friends have a good time. Frank was twirling Alice around the dance floor, somehow his dance lessons since childhood making up for his general lack of grace and Alice's inability to dance. Sirius and Marlene had disappeared some time ago, and Lily was fairly certain she wouldn't see them anytime soon.

Peter was sitting with Beth at one of the small tables arranged around the room, seemingly regaling his date with fabulous stories of the Marauders' years at Hogwarts. Beth, much to everyone's surprise, seemed genuinely interested; she was staring at Peter in rapt attention and Lily thought she detected adoration oozing out of Beth's pores. Peter was glowing with the attention he had so often been deprived of during his school years.

Vicky and Remus were leaned up against one of the walls, chatting and laughing like old times. Lily was glad that Vicky had decided to apologize for whatever she had done. Lily knew that Vicky was a bit rough around the edges, but she also knew that underneath her thorny exterior, Vicky was a loyal, fun, and loving person. If Remus could just get past her defenses, Lily had a feeling that they would be very good together, that they would make each other better, and pull each other out of their shells.

Lily then scanned the room for James and Teddy, but they still hadn't returned. James had led Teddy to his father's study to discuss things he didn't want anyone else to overhear, and to get him away from Lily.

"Can I get you something to drink?" asked a smooth and charming voice. Lily shifted her gaze to the left and found a very attractive man in his early twenties smiling at her.

"Thank you but no," Lily replied.

"How about a dance then?" he persisted.

"How about a name first?" countered Lily.

"Carter Ivanov," he introduced himself gallantly as he kissed Lily's hand. "And I do believe you need no introduction. Having recently arrived, I requested that someone point me in the direction of the most beautiful woman in the room and I was advised to search you out Miss Lily Evans."

"Perhaps you should have narrowed your search to the most beautiful and _single_ woman in the room," quipped Lily.

"Relationships have never stood in my way before."

"There's a first time for everything," said Lily snippily. "Now if you'll excuse me…"

"I apologize," said Carter emotionally. "I didn't mean to offend you. I get very nervous around beautiful women like you and stupid things slip out of my mouth. I swear I'm not really such an arrogant bastard. Please don't go. I swear my intentions are honorable."

"Fine," exhaled Lily. "But one more cheesy line and I reserve the right to run in the opposite direction."

"Deal," said Carter with a dazzling smile. The grin looked so familiar to Lily, yet she wasn't sure why; she had certainly never met this man before. "Please tell me something about yourself. Where you went to school perhaps?"

"I attended Hogwarts for seven years and now I am studying at the International Institute for Incredibly Talented Wizards," stated Lily factually.

Carter whistled. "Perhaps the gentleman I talked to didn't speak English very well and when I said the 'most beautiful woman' he thought I said the 'most intelligent woman.'"

Lily raised her eyebrows.

"That was not cheesy," protested Carter. "Believe me, I know cheesy and that wasn't it."

"I'll let that one slide," said Lily with a laugh. "But you were skating on thin ice with that one. Now what about you, where did you go to school?"

"The Russian Magical Academy," he responded. "My mother was English and my father Russian. After my mother's death when I was seven, my father and I moved back to Russia so that my father could have help raising me. My therapist says I'm such a prick because my mother died when I was so young."

"My mother died when I was young too," Lily confided. "Does that mean I'm automatically a damaged person too?"

"Of course," Carter responded. At Lily's shocked and offended expression he added, "There I go offending you again. I don't mean it as a bad thing. Realistically anyone who loses a parent at a young age is damaged by it. The person who isn't harmed by such a tragedy is already warped. Now how a person deals with their emotional baggage is up to them. Obviously you have handled it far better than me. I am a prat who frequently lashes out in anger and does anything to be the center of attention; you are obviously a brilliant and successful witch who doesn't let her past ruin her relationships or work. Any tips you would like to share?"

Lily smiled sweetly and was about to indulge his request when her boyfriend's icy words stopped her.

"Get away from her Carter," ordered James coldly.

Carter turned around to face James. "If it isn't my little cousin Jamsie come to play."

"Get the hell away from my girlfriend right now," James growled.

"Don't make a scene at mummy's party Jamsie," sneered Carter. "Daddy would be most upset with you."

With a laugh Carter turned around, pulled Lily to him and kissed her cheek. Then he spun her around and pushed her into James's arms. Another laugh and he was off to find sanctuary with Auntie Marilyn.

"I see you've met my one and only cousin Carter," said James as he steadied Lily.

"I can't imagine why you've never mentioned him before," said Lily dryly as she wiped off her cheek.

"He's three years older than us and ever since I can remember he's always wanted anything that is mine. When we were little he would take whatever toy I was playing with just because I wanted it. Then he would break it or hide it so that I couldn't have it anymore. I haven't seen him in a few years and I would have thought that his childish games would have ended, but I guess that the same rules still apply. I'm sorry that he bothered you."

Lily laughed. "It's quite alright. Now I know where I know his smile from though."

"What?" asked James confused.

"His smile seemed familiar, and now I know why. He and your mum have the same smile. He must be your mum's sister's son?"

"Yeah, he is my mum's only sister's only son. How did you know?"

"Elementary my dear James," said Lily excitedly. "His last name does not match your mother's maiden name or your last name, and he's your cousin. He also said his mother was English and his father Russian."

"He's lived in Russia since his mum, my Aunt Betty died. My mother was heartbroken when Uncle Peter took him back to Russia, but the only reason he stayed in England was for Auntie Betty. Everyone in his family were still in Russia. He did allow Carter to come stay with us for a month every summer though."

"Lucky you," muttered Lily.

"Worst part of the summer," James stated with a shudder. "I used to hide my favorite toys when I heard he was coming. But then my mum, she has always had a massive soft spot for him- in her eyes poor Carter can do no wrong- would tell me to show Carter my favorite toys or let him play with them and I would have to take them out and he would break them. I would tell my mum and she would say it was just an accident and then ruffle his hair and tell him it was okay. He was a master at crying on cue."

"Oh Lily! There you are," said Mrs. Potter as she approached with her favorite nephew in tow. "I just requested that the band play a song for Carter. He was just telling me about a new dance that is very popular in Russia right now and he graciously accepted my request to perform it for the guests. However he needs a dance partner-"

"Mum, no," interrupted James fiercely.

Quieting him with a harsh glare, Marilyn continued. "And since you are so graceful and cultured on the dance floor, I was wondering if you wouldn't mind accompanying him? I promise he won't step on your toes! He is quite the natural. Carter gets that from his mother, my dear deceased sister Elizabeth."

"It's no problem Mrs. Potter," said Lily quickly before James could get another word in.

"Excellent!" Marilyn clapped her hands together in excitement. "Carter says the two of you have already become acquainted, so you can jump right into the dance in about fifteen minutes. Perhaps it would be best if you practiced a bit beforehand? I'll come and get you when it's time. Now James, I wanted to introduce you to Minister Laurentino and his wife…"

"You are quite despicable," said Lily as she accepted Carter's arm and followed him out of the ballroom. She was smiling with her mouth and shooting daggers with her eyes.

"And you are quite magnificent. I can't imagine how much of his vast fortune my cousin spent to have you accompany him tonight."

"That is so insulting on so many levels," muttered Lily angrily.

Minutes passed and Lily refused to say a word or even look at Carter as he walked her through the steps.

"So now you won't talk to me?" he asked with a smirk as he suddenly dipped her to the floor.

As his face became increasingly closer to hers Lily hissed, "Kiss me again and I _will_ kill you."

Carter pulled Lily up to a standing position and wrapped both arms around her, not permitting her to move a centimeter. "Come, run away with me and leave my pathetic cousin behind. He's a boy, and I can see it in your eyes that you need a man. I can be your man Lily," he whispered in her ear. His whisper was low and husky, and made Lily shiver but not for the right reasons.

Thinking he was winning her over, Carter's lips traveled from her ear lobe to her neck, but before they could brush the smooth white skin Carter doubled over in pain.

"You're just lucky she didn't break your nose first," drawled Teddy from the doorway. "Really Aphrodite when did you become so violent? I thought you were the goddess of love."

"Maybe a better name for me would be Artemis then," spat Lily as she kicked Carter for good measure and stepped widely around him.

"The virgin hunter goddess," mused Teddy.

"Carter dear, are you and Lily ready- what happened here?!" asked Mrs. Potter in alarm as she swept past Teddy and saw the poor lad on the floor.

Before Carter could answer, Lily said, "Carter was showing me one of the dance steps and well, clumsy as I am, my knee slipped, and well you know… I was just about to go and fetch him some ice. Given the circumstances I think we had better wait on the dance."

"Oh hurry and get some ice please Lily, I'll stay with him. Poor Carter…" said Auntie Marilyn as she cradled his head in her lap and stroked the side of his face.

"_And you call yourself a man? Pathetic, even more pathetic than your cousin if that's possible_," Teddy told Carter in Russian.

Carter narrowed his eyes, but didn't respond to the stranger.

A moment later James returned with a towel filled with ice. "Sorry to disappoint you Carter, but Lily was pulled away to speak with one the German Ministers. She wanted to make sure you got your ice though, so she passed the task on to me."

"Thanks," winced Carter as he applied the remedy.

"Sure thing cousin," said James with a huge grin. "Now I have matters to attend to, please excuse me."

"You've got quite the girl Potter," said Teddy evenly as he fell into step with James.

"Thank you Fredrik, I like to think so," replied James just as coolly.

"She's very loyal to you."

"As am I to her."

"I don't think you deserve her."

"You aren't the only one," observed James as he gestured for Teddy to enter the library.

"She's more special than you could possibly imagine," said Teddy in an excited whisper. "I've seen some of the things she can do… things no one has been able to do in a hundred years!"

"I know," began James.

"You can know, but you can't possibly understand! **I** can barely comprehend it all!"

James frowned. "Your problem is that all you see is her talent, her extraordinary capacity to learn. That is not all that she is."

Teddy was genuinely confused and it was evident on his face.

James laughed at him. "You really don't use any other scale to measure people, do you?"

"What other scale is there?" asked Teddy defensively.

James laughed again. "Don't expect me to give you all of the answers to life. You have to figure them out for yourself just like anyone else."

"I'm starting to see why she stays with you," said Teddy humbly. "I think you keep her grounded."

"So does this mean you'll stop assaulting her at school?" asked James hopefully.

Teddy's humble tone turned to laughter. His laugh had a cold and slimy feeling to it, very much unlike James's warm and hearty chuckle, or Sirius's bark-like, joy-filled chortle. "I said that I could understand why she stays with you, not that I think it's a good idea. You see 'grounded' as a good thing; to me and those like me, it's a tragedy. From my perspective you're holding her back, holding her down. You simply are no match for her! In fact, you are no more than a lesser version of me! Our fathers are both aurors, but mine is Head Auror and your father has failed to attain such a title, much like every one of your ancestors I might add.

"You're athletic but I am more so. From what I hear, you are charming and according to the ladies, fairly attractive, but I surpass you in both categories. You're rumored to be decent at dueling, and more talented than the average wizard, but if you were better than me you would be at the Institute and I would be attending a third rate training facility that can't even manage to protect itself from attack.

"You must have realized that you're not good enough for her by now. Show a little decency and **let her go**. She would be better off without you. You are a distraction, a childish security blanket she has outgrown. Step down and let a real wizard step in," Teddy concluded dramatically.

Throughout Teddy's monologue James had remained silent with a thoughtful expression on his face. However he had no need to listen to his opponent's words, because they were one and the same with his own thoughts. On occasion James would lie awake at the Academy at night, staring at the ceiling, paralyzed by the fear that the next letter Lily sent would inform him that she had replaced him. But then he had seen her again, and her smile had washed away his insecurities. She had come back to **him**. She loved **him**. **He** was the one who drove her crazy with desire.

Thoughts of Lily allowed him to remain calm as he retaliated. "All that you say may be true, yet she doesn't **love** _you_, doesn't **want** _you_, doesn't **need** _you_. She wants me, and as long as she wants me I will be there for her. And **just so you know **I would never give her up without a fight."

Teddy laughed again. "Times are changing; Lily is changing and she is leaving you behind. Now you're capable of caring for her, but before long she'll be so totally out of your league that she'll have no choice but to abandon you. You can't possibly understand her fully, no one without the same talents and burdens can. You just aren't there for her in the way she needs you. For ten months out of the year your presence in her life is limited to the letters you write. In contrast I am there **in the flesh** twenty four hours a day."

Now it was James's turn to laugh, albeit the sound seemed hollow to even his ears. "You are pathetic. You know that you don't have a shot with Lily; that's the only reason you would try to intimidate me. I feel sorry for you. Now if you'll excuse me I think we're finished here."

"We are far from finished James Potter. You should have taken my advice and walked away now. There will be nothing but heartbreak for you from now on," threatened Teddy.

"Whatever you say Teddy Bear," said James dismissively as he left the room, not even bothering to turn around.

As soon as James had descended the stairs his calm pace evolved into speed walking. He darted around dignitaries and squeezed around celebrities, frantically searching for the love of his life. No matter how hard he tried to ignore the spiteful words of Teddy, he couldn't free himself from the heavy burden they placed on his heart. He had always known that Lily was out of his league, but never had the distance between them been so obvious.

Finally he found her standing with some young woman sipping champagne and politely laughing at whatever was just said.

"Excuse us won't you," he said brusquely as he slipped an arm around Lily's waist and led her away from her companion.

James ignored Lily's questions and protests as he led her outside onto the empty terrace.

"What are you doing?" asked Lily as she assessed her boyfriend. He was distracted, breathing heavily, and had a wild glint in his eye. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong," he told her breathily as he pressed her up against the brick wall and kissed her with wild abandon.

She broke off the kiss and breathily requested his outer robe.

"Why?" he asked her as he slipped it off and handed it to her.

"Because," she smiled. "It's December and my dress doesn't keep me as warm as you might think. And these bricks are scraping my back."

Once Lily was more comfortable, James chuckled and captured her lips once more.

Unbeknownst to the couple in the shadows, Teddy lurked around one of the windows spying on their private moment.

"I think if I looked the word jealous up in the dictionary I would find your picture there," commented Vicky as she stepped into Teddy's line of vision.

"I am not jealous," protested Teddy feebly.

Vicky didn't comment. A long moment passed and then Vicky told him, "He truly loves her and she loves him back."

"I don't believe in love."

"Then what are you chasing?"

"Power. Imagine if Aphrodite and I had children together?" Teddy let the idea float in the air for a moment. "They could rule the world."

"Number one Lily would never marry for anything except love, and number two, she would never raise children who would want to rule the world," stated Vicky. "You're chasing a foolish dream."

"People told Avada Kedavra that she was chasing a foolish dream too," Teddy pointed out.

"She developed the killing curse," spat Vicky. "Why would you ever associate Lily with her?"

"They are both powerful and talented witches."

"They are nothing alike," hissed Vicky. "Kedavra was an evil sorceress who delved too deeply into dark magic. Lily is a good and wholesome person who would never sink to that, no matter how strong the temptation."

"Oh yeah?" challenged Teddy quietly, his eyebrows raised. "Ask her about the work she does with Master Livedero and then tell me she can resist temptation."

Vicky was speechless as Teddy sauntered away. As she collected her thoughts she took a look around the elegant hall. Her gaze came to rest on Remus. He was casually resting up against a table and chatting with a beautiful girl who sat at it. Vicky couldn't quite pinpoint what it was about him, but just looking at him made her heart beat faster. She yearned to run her fingers through his dirty blonde hair, to mess it up like Lily messed up James's on a regular basis. She wished with all her heart that his amber eyes would look at her like Frank was looking at Alice right now. She loved how he always looked at someone when they spoke, how respectful and considerate he was… except when it came to her. That night they had gotten back to how they used to be in every respect but the fact that he would barely look at her.

Vicky felt sick; her stomach tightened as the pretty girl placed a hand over Remus's as she delicately laughed at something he had said. Vicky wished she had a delicate laugh like the girl, but no, her guffaw was loud and wild and boyish. That girl looked every bit like the girl Vicky imagined was Remus's type. Her long blonde hair was expertly pinned and curled in an elaborate fashion, her classic emerald velvet gown hugged her classic feminine curves, and she had a perpetual ladylike blush on her flawless face. Her laugh was delicate and sweet, her voice not too loud or too harsh and Vicky was certain she never said anything controversial. A perfect lady for Remus, the perfect gentleman.

Vicky could never compare. She was short, not even reaching Remus's shoulder. Perfect girl probably was the perfect height, especially in her perfect heels. Vicky couldn't walk in heels; Lily had assured her that the pretty black slippers on her feet were perfectly acceptable, but now they only served to make her feel more inadequate. Her hair was just long enough to reach her chin and it was black with plum streaks, a far cry from perfect girl's perfect golden tresses. Lily had curled her hair and clipped cute purple bows into it, but still she felt like a boyish brute next to perfect girl. She had insisted on wearing a black dress, despite Lily's persistent pleas for color, and now she felt so out of place she wanted to cry. Initially she thought that the dress was very flattering, it even made her unimpressive bust a size larger, but now all she could see in the reflection of the floor length window was a scrawny (not slim like perfect girl!) girl with bony hips and a square torso who looked ghoulish because the black dress contrasted so sharply with her pale skin. Vicky turned away from the window before her eyes drifted to her face.

She didn't need the reflective surface to know that her face was long and thin and ended in a very pointy chin. She had a fat little snub nose and huge eyes with an uninteresting brown color. She wished she only had beautiful green eyes like Lily, maybe then her face could be salvaged! Then people wouldn't pay attention to her prominent high cheekbones, fat lips or bushy eyebrows. Vicky would have bet anything that perfect girl had gorgeous baby blue eyes, or maybe even mysterious silver eyes.

Vicky had worked herself up so fully that she was indeed ready to start bawling at any moment, her self-pity welling up inside of her like a geyser ready to erupt. She was so consumed by her thoughts that she didn't even notice the approach of James and Lily. They were both looking perfect as always, a regular golden couple, thought Vicky glumly as they made their presence known.

"What's the matter?" Lily asked quietly as she squeezed her friend's hand.

Sure that nothing except crying would escape her mouth were she to open it, Vicky turned her eyes from Lily's concerned face to Remus and perfect girl.

Both James and Lily followed her line of vision and guessed what the problem was.

"Julie and Remus have been friends for a long time," James told her softly. "He isn't interested in her and never has been. And if that doesn't convince you, she's dating Edgar Bones, who is about to come and ask her to dance. Edgar and Remus have never been fond of each other, ever since Remus accidently dumped lake slime on him when we were fifth years and he was a seventh year."

Just as James had predicted, Edgar did snatch his date away from Remus, without even a curt greeting to his girlfriend's good friend.

Vicky still wasn't very comforted.

"If you want him, you're going to have to make the first move," said James. "Remus… Remus is a cautious bloke."

"What a better time than Christmas Eve? There's more mistletoe in this room than there is in a whole forest. Pluck a branch from one of the garlands and you'll be all set; no one can resist the Christmas magic," advised Lily.

"Literally," added James. "It's all enchanted so that neither person can move until they kiss."

"You can see why mistletoe was banned from Hogwarts while the Marauders were in attendance," Lily said dryly.

"I still can't believe that I was never able to catch you underneath any while we were at school," said James lightly.

"Not to be distracted," said Lily as she turned back to her friend. "If worse comes to worst you can avoid him for the rest of your life. This is a big house full of plenty of places to hide."

James began to say something else and Vicky cut him off saying, "Alright! I get it already! You can go back to snogging now!"

"Actually we have to go visit with France's Minister of Foreign Affairs," James informed Lily.

"If we must," sighed Lily with a smile. "Is he the handsy dancer?"

"No," said James as he paused to think. "I think that's the Italian Minister of Games and Sports."

"Oh yes, you're right," said Lily as James led her away.

Vicky took a deep breath and loosened one of the sprigs of mistletoe from the clump that was tied to the golden ribbon holding the massive burgundy drapes away from the window. She held it behind her back as she skirted around the dance floor to where Remus was now sitting alone. To her relief he was not staring at any one dancer, not even the one James had called Julie.

Remus's gaze had just alighted on her when his eyes went wild.

"Hey, come with me?" he requested as he shoved himself away from the table.

"Sure," said Vicky breathlessly as she allowed him to grab her empty hand and rush out of the ballroom. "What's going on?" she asked lightly as he immediately pulled her to the side of the door.

"We're hiding," he told her as he pulled her along hallways and up and down staircases until he opened a door and pushed her into a dark room.

"Why are we hiding?" she whispered in the direction she thought Remus was. The only light came from the crack under the door and her eyes hadn't quite adjusted yet.

"Because Sandra Fini has been hunting me all night. As you came over I heard her calling me. I figured that you would make a good alibi and keep her off my back," explained Remus, his words spilling out quietly with his minty breath.

"Why are you hiding from her?" asked Vicky, hoping that he didn't guess why she wanted to know. She was very much afraid that someday she would be in the position of this poor Sandra Fini girl.

Remus chuckled. "Sandra was Lily's greatest rival at school. Surely you remember her? She was a Ravenclaw in our year. Maybe she had gone abroad when you visited… anyway she always had a rule that no one in her little circle of friends could date a Marauder. She always said it was because we were a band of hoodlums and far beneath her and her friends, but really it was because she had asked James to Hogsmeade on a date in fourth year and he turned her down. When Lily became friendly with James she voted Lily out of the circle.

"It was obvious that she was insanely jealous of Lily and her relationship with James. I don't know if Lily even knows this, but one time Sandra and James were paired up for a school assignment and she was so bold that she actually kissed him in the middle of the classroom literally behind Lily's back. Anyway to make a long story short, now she is chasing me to get at Lily and James. Peter is taken and Sirius would never give her the time of day, so I am her only option. But I would rather be a werewolf than spend five minutes in the company of such a shallow, self-serving girl like her."

"Being a werewolf…" mused Vicky. She could feel Remus's intent stare on her and she wasn't sure why, but this felt like a test. Certain that she had failed the last test, she was determined to choose her words more carefully this time. "The ignorance and stupidity of society would get old rather quickly I'm sure. I don't know how it is here, but werewolves, in both American muggle and magical societies, are greatly feared and shunned. In fact there was a period of time in which they were rounded up and put in camps in the forests of Montana and Wyoming. I feel like such behavior is despicable because werewolves, as well as all other… people like vampires and such, are just people, albeit a little different."

"Would it scare you if I told you that there was a werewolf in this linen closet?" asked Remus as he shifted so that he was directly facing Vicky.

"Would it scare you if I told you that last November when I was locked up in a cell with Lily, I wished you were there with me instead?" Vicky countered as she tilted her head back to see him.

"Why aren't you bothered by the fact that I'm a werewolf?" whispered Remus.

"We had a debate about werewolves and vampires at school last month. I had never really thought about it before, just accepted my narrow-minded family's prejudices blindly, but the way Lily spoke about the rights and burdens of werewolves made me reevaluate my opinion. She spoke with such great passion and knowledge that it was fairly obvious to me that someone close to her was afflicted. After that I did a lot of research and changed my mind. I think Lily changed a lot of people's minds that day. She's an incredible person," finished Vicky breathlessly.

"And she has incredible friends," he said huskily, making Vicky's heart race and her breathing grow shallow.

Cradling his face with her palms, Vicky pulled Remus's lips down to hers. The mistletoe lay forgotten and unheeded on the floor.

Two floors below Lily was dancing with James and staring at Peter and Beth with disgust. The two were on the very edge of the dance floor simply swaying with the music and Lily could tell that Peter was more than a little nervous; one clue was that he was wiping his sweaty hands on the back of his trousers every two minutes.

"I did not spend my time teaching him how to kiss for him to get cold feet!" Lily informed James sternly.

"Then I guess you need to help him along," said James soothingly.

"Me? He's _your_ friend."

"Did _I_ kiss him? I don't think so," smirked James. "He is _your_ charity case."

"Fine," stated Lily loftily. It only took her a moment to locate and extract James's wand from his pocket.

"Hey now, that's _mine_," protested James without missing a beat.

"_My_ wand is much more difficult to get to and would cause a scene, and your wand will do just fine for the simple magic I have in mind."

James watched as a piece of mistletoe that had been decorating a wall sconce sailed over his head and hovered above Peter and Beth.

"Oh I didn't see that one coming," said James sarcastically.

"Don't knock the classics," Lily told him seriously.

"I have to see this," mumbled James as he sidestepped so that both he and Lily could watch the show.

"Ahhh…" cooed Lily as she watched her protégé at work. She laid her head against James's chest and smiled.

"Your little boy is all grown up," teased James.

Lily was quiet. It was unlike her not to respond, especially to teasing, so James tore his gaze away from Peter, who actually seemed to do quite well for himself, and turned to his girlfriend.

"Something wrong?"

"Just thinking." Lily's tone was sweet and came with a smile to match.

"About?" prompted James.

"Growing up."

James just hummed in response and pulled her a little closer. As he spun her around the dance floor she numbly followed his lead while she spun ideas around her head.

**A/N. You have no idea how many revisions this chapter went through! I have so many alternate endings and side plots for this night… anyway, I hope that you like how it came out! Good, bad or indifferent- let me know how you feel!**

**I apologize for the lack of a Peter/Beth moment; I know that many of you were hoping for one. It just didn't fit in with the chapter- I really did try to make it work. First question: are you horribly disappointed?**

**The Remus/ Vicky relationship- good, bad, rushed, too soon?**

**What do you think of cousin Carter?**

**What did you think of Fredrik Nordin (aka Teddy- remember that their names change at school)? Of his speech to James?**

**How did you feel about Sirius's idea that Lily and James should get married? Lily and James's reaction to the notion? When do you think they should get married?**

**Did you think anything was missing from this chapter?**


	54. A New Year and A New Beginning

**A/N. So please don't kill me! I know it's been a while (like a really long long long while) but I actually haven't given up on this story and I am committed to finishing it. I hope a few people stuck it out with me! I'd love to hear from all of you, new and old, so please leave a review!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any Harry Potter or Harry Potter related copyrights. **

Christmas arrived with all the usual bells and whistles and none of the previous year's drama or discomfort. Presents, smiles, and wonderful breakfast food abounded. Lily couldn't help but be amazed; her current situation in the midst of a warm and loving, albeit abnormal, family was so vastly different from the frigid and shallow confines of her previous house. There were moments when she missed her family, missed her dad and her sisters, but as her heart told her she knew that if she were "home" with her "family" the moments when she missed the extended Potter family, James in particular, would be continuous, would morph into one long "moment" of pain. Even Carter's jealous glares and smarmy comments couldn't make her reconsider her position.

The days flew by and before anyone knew it, it was New Year's Eve.

Lily woke up that morning with such a deep pit in her stomach that not even the usually soothing presence of James's bare arm draped over her hip could get rid of the nausea she felt. The incredible pain of separation had faded to a distant memory while she was at Potter Manor, but now that the idea of leaving had morphed into concrete reality, the searing pain flowed through her veins like poison.

Lily took a deep shuddering breath and then the tears were unleashed. There was nothing she could do to stop the body-racking sobs that then took control. Lily only cried harder as she felt James shift against her back and hold her tighter.

"I love you," he whispered in her ear, his voice still laden with the huskiness of sleep.

Lily turned in his arms and pressed her face against his chest, her tears flowing unchecked. "I love you too," she told him as steadily as she could.

James sighed and just held her. There were hundreds of things he wanted to say to her- _Stay with me. Don't go. You're breaking my heart._- but really all he could do was hold her, words didn't belong in this moment.

As the minutes passed Lily regained control of herself and her tears receded.

"I don't want to leave you," she told him.

James choked back all of his anger and frustration and maturely responded, "I don't want you to go either, but you have to."

Lily was silent then, contemplating her upcoming departure. "I hate this," she finally whispered. "I hate having to choose."

"I know," James whispered back. He closed his eyes and tightened his grip around her. "Someday you won't have to choose. Someday you'll have it all."

Lily didn't respond, her mind full of visions of her and James living the picket fence life. Eventually both teens drifted back off to a comfortable sleep.

While the couple slept the rest of the household drifted around the manner as if in a daze. The dark cloud of Lily and James's upcoming heartbreak had infected the hearts of everyone as keenly as a dementor's presence. Once the sleeping beauties finally emerged from James's bedroom, sleep still in their eyes, and pajamas slightly askew, the fog became tangible. There was just something about the way they looked at each other, the way that they held onto each other continuously… it drove a spike into the hearts of everyone who beheld them.

Eventually the cloud got too much for even James. With a few whispered words and a nod of understanding from Lily he shot off in the direction of the Quidditch Pitch, his beloved broom gripped firmly in his right hand.

Lily then absentmindedly wandered around the manor, looking for all the world as if she had lost track of her purpose in life. It was thus that Remus bumped into her and found a kindred spirit.

"Hey Remus," said Lily softly.

"How are you doing?" he asked politely.

"Fine," she answered automatically. "And you?"

"As well as to be expected I guess," he responded.

"Mmm…" Lily drifted off uncertainly. A pause followed as neither party could work up the energy to ignite a stimulating conversation.

"Do you want to sit down?" Remus finally asked.

Startled out of her deep reverie, Lily merely nodded and planted herself in between a priceless vase and antique suit of armor. Remus wedged himself up against the wall next to her and stretched out his legs.

"Vicky's packing," Remus mentioned.

"James is flying," Lily countered.

Remus nodded. Lily placed her head against his shoulder. As the minutes passed by the two friends became fortified by each other's presence. It was as if the sun finally burned through the cloud cover.

"This sucks!" Lily cried vehemently.

"Yes it does," Remus answered gravely.

With a sudden burst of energy Lily sat up straight and turned to face Remus. "We can't just let our lives suck. We need to do something about it!"

Remus sighed deeply. "What could we possibly do? James and I are stuck here and you and Vicky have to go there. That's it. End of story. Game over!" he cried in frustration.

"No. Game just beginning…" Lily's sentence trailed off as she stood up and walked away.

Remus watched her walk away but couldn't be bothered to follow. He sighed and just sat there despondently until Sirius threw a dungbomb into his lap. Then the battle was on and a smile graced Remus's face once more.

Hours passed by the time James returned from flying to find two of his best mates in rather awkward conditions. Sirius's once noble nose was gone, leaving a potato in its place, which he was stroking somberly and Remus could not seem to find his legs no matter how hard he wiggled his torso.

"Seriously mates?" was all James could say as he stopped, dumbfounded. "What spell did you even use to change a nose into a potato?"

"Dunno," said Sirius in an oddly nasally and monotonous voice while Remus continued to wiggle. "He ambushed me as I came around a corner and hit me with two or three in a row and this is what happened. And I was thinking about a caterpillar when I cast a spell, I dunno which one, and now his legs are gone and he can't stop wiggling."

James ended both of their odd conditions with two waves of his wand and a whispered "Finite Incantatem" and was relieved to see that they were back to as normal a state as ever.

"Thanks mate!" cried Sirius exuberantly, making up for his period of apathy.

"Padfoot!" bellowed Remus as he lunged for his handsome friend.

"Where's Lily?" James yelled after the pranking pair.

Unfortunately for James, Remus and Sirius both did not know where Lily was and were too busy casting spells to tell James even that bit of information.

James wandered the house for a bit, diligently checking each of Lily's preferred spots in the house, but to no avail. He also requested information from each house elf he came across, but that also was fruitless. Human beings were not any more help; Lily was nowhere to be found and James was becoming more furious by the minute that they were spending their last moments together apart.

And that was how Lily found James a few hours later, fuming in his bedroom.

"Where have you been?" he shouted as soon as she appeared in the doorway. "Never mind! It doesn't matter! How could you be anywhere except with me on the last day we're going to see each other for months? What the bloody hell is wrong with you?"

Lily was physically taken aback by this barrage of angry comments, but recovered quickly and entered the lion's den. Through the anger she could see the deeply rooted hurt, so she gingerly sat down on his bed next to him taking his calloused hand in both of hers.

"You know," said Lily contemplatively as she scrunched up her nose and her cheeks lifted up so her eyes were slightly narrowed. "That is the second time someone asked me what was wrong with me."

James clenched his fists and angrily groaned in frustration. "WHO was more important to you to spend time with today?"

"The Headmaster of the Institute. I told him that I wouldn't be returning tomorrow, and he understandably performed several diagnostic charms to see if I was crazy, sick, or somehow cursed," said Lily, her words calm, but every muscle of her body tense with excitement.

"You what?" gasped James.

"I'm staying here. I begrudgingly got promises of letters of recommendation from a couple of my professors, so I should be able to attend the Healing school in London…" said Lily brightly.

"That school was such a perfect fit for you. You'll be so bored anywhere else… All of your dreams…" James trailed off dully, his voice laden with guilt. "I can't let you do this Lily. You've worked so hard and come so far…"

Depressed by his lack of enthusiasm, Lily sullenly and flatly stated, "It's already done."

"Lily, please, just tell them you made a mistake. They'll let you go back! Just say it was a joke or something… This is too much to ask of you to give up. We can get through the next few years. I would never ask this of you. I want to give you the whole world, not take the best opportunity anyone could ever receive away from you," explained James sweetly and sorrowfully.

Lily gently cupped James's face in her hands and turned it to face her own. "You're my whole world now. Nothing else matters. I'm just waking up from one dream to pursue another. I don't feel like I'm giving up anything."

"Will you marry me?"

"What?" spluttered Lily, flabbergasted.

"Will you marry me?" James calmly repeated as covered Lily's left hand with his own and he twisted himself out of Lily's embrace and knelt in front of her.

Lily's eyes widened spectacularly and sparkled with joyful tears as she exuberantly cried, "Yes! Of course!"

"Ok, wait here then," he exclaimed as he sprang up and bounded out of the room.

James sprang down corridors and jumped down staircases, dashed behind a tapestry into a secret sector of the house, and then cast the proper incantations to charm a suit of armor to stand aside and let him pass into the heart of the Potter mansion and its fortune.

As James stepped into the hidden chamber, his breath caught just as it had when his father had first introduced him to the room on his eleventh birthday. In the small room piles of rubies, emeralds, diamonds, and sapphires gleamed atop hills of gold jewelry and coins. Priceless muggle art covered the walls and shining sculptures rested on pieces of antique furniture.

James passed all of these things by, absently kicking aside a stray diamond that had tumbled into his path. His heart was set on something he had first seen almost three years ago, when he had returned shortly after his seventeenth birthday to claim the first of many pieces of his inheritance, an engagement ring.

The first Potter to truly make a name for himself was Slade Potter, a man who was born and raised in a small secluded valley with no more than a dozen other wizarding families. His family had been working with clay since anyone could remember, making everyday items like bowls and plates. Slade, thinking that there had to be something better, started adapting the charms used to manipulate clay so that he could produce art with metal instead. A clever man, he began to work furiously as rings, necklaces, and bracelets formed themselves in his hands. Soon he began to incorporate the sparkly stones so many girls were fond of, and he had made a name for himself.

Witches and wizards from other communities flocked to him and made him wealthy enough to move to Hogsmeade where he opened his own shop. Before he knew it he had met a wonderful woman, wooed her with his most beautiful jewelry, and then was given many sons whom he taught to take over the family business. His son Elmar took the business to the newly developing Diagon Alley and the family was forever established. Within a couple of generations stores appeared in wizarding communities all over Europe, and gems and metals were being imported from every corner of the globe. Seven generations before Christopher Potter, the empire was sold for millions, and the family was able to live very comfortably off the interest of their fortune. That was when a bored Edward Potter turned to the Auror Academy and a new dynasty began.

In the center of the room lay a pedestal and padded velvet cushion. On this cushion sat three of the original five engagement rings which Slade Potter had crafted for his four sons to give to the girls of their dreams, the fifth being the one he had made for his own wife. The loves of James' father and uncle had been entrusted with the keeping of two of the rings and a third would now rest on the left hand of the woman who had just agreed to marry him.

Nearly three years ago James had picked a ring with Lily just a distant thought at the back of his mind, but now that he saw it again he knew that it was meant for her. It was substantial yet delicate, the band made of two strands of gold, one white and one yellow, that branched off separately from the stones, but intertwined and became one mixed color, more beautiful than either alone, just after the setting so that when worn everyone could see the blending of the two strands. Perched atop this symbolic band was one large oval sapphire surrounded by small circular diamonds that twinkled in the sunlight. It was perfect: elegant and substantial and not gaudy or too ostentatious.

As James re-familiarized himself with the piece he was sure that Lily would love it just as much as he did. He swiftly plucked the ring off the cushion, and after reactivating all of the protective charms, he rushed back to the love of his life, who, for once, was waiting patiently and allowing herself to be surprised.

"This is the last time I am going to ask you this," said James with a grin on his face and both eyes gleaming with joy and renewed hope. He got back down on one knee in front of Lily and held up the ring in front of her. "Will you marry me, please?"

"Yes," said Lily more solemnly, know that she had had time to think about it and the shock had worn off she had returned to her usual rational self.

"Brilliant," breathed James as he slipped the ring on her finger. "Do you want to tell mum or shall I?"

"I suppose we should do it together," said Lily with an overly mature voice to poke fun at her new fiancé.

As could be expected, Marilyn Potter was overjoyed at the news, and hugs, kisses, and tears abounded. In fact she was still crying for joy as she swept out of the room to plan a dinner party for the evening so that Vicky could also join in on the festivities before she left the following morning for the Institute.

James and Lily then separated, he to tell his father and she to tell Vicky. The couple, and Mrs. Potter, had agreed to keep it a secret from Sirius, Remus, Peter, Marlene, and Alice however. All had agreed that the looks on their faces would be too priceless not to share with everyone.

The meeting with Mr. Potter went well; he had long ago resigned himself to the fact that he no longer had the authority to meddle in his son's relationship with Lily. Begrudgingly he had accepted that it was out of his hands, and in a rare moment of humility he accepted his son's announcement with grace and calm.

"I knew this moment was coming sooner rather than later," Christopher replied when James questioned him about his change of heart. He paused for a minute to pour two glasses of whiskey and then continued, "I have watched you and Lily very carefully and I can no longer raise any objections to the two of you being together for the rest of your lives. I regret that I served as another hurdle to your happiness when there were already so many. I should have been there to help you; I am sorry to have failed you."

James accepted the glass from his father, and thus the adult relationship it represented, but before he took a sip he embraced his dad in a long hug as a link to his past and all the hugs he had missed as a child.

"Thanks dad."

Christopher cleared his throat and then began speaking in his lecture voice. James settled back down in his chair and took a long sip of his drink and thought that his dad's lectures were much more bearable when alcohol was involved. "Now James, being a husband is a lot of responsibility…"

"Why does your mum keeping looking at you like that?" Sirius whispered to James midway through dinner when the main conversation was directed elsewhere.

"Like what?" asked James, using all of his skills to convincingly act dumb.

"Like you have some fatal disease, or you just learned how to use the loo for the first time… or you proposed to Lily or something," he trailed off with a glint in his eye.

"How could you know that?" asked James skeptically, breaking the Maruader's first rule about lying- admitting guilt before being accused.

"You proposed to Lily?" Sirius bellowed.

"Ummm…" was James's eloquent answer.

"Yes he did and I accepted," Lily substituted.

Alice and Marlene squealed and hugged each other and then hugged Lily, while Vicky couldn't stop grinning. Sirius jumped up and pulled a crying Marilyn out of her seat and procedure to dance around the room with her, while Chrsitopher looked on and chuckled to himself. Peter awkwardly clapped James on the back and muttered "Congratulations" while Remus set some fireworks off with his wand and shouted incomprehensible words.

Just then Harry and Eileen arrived back from Italy and silence descended on the room as the door hit the wall of the dining room with a great clang.

"Now what exactly was so important that I had to leave my own New Year's Eve party to come all the way back here?" asked Harry good-naturedly.

"James and Lily are getting married!" announced Peter.

"Well that's not exactly news, now is it?" asked Harry in exasperation. "James told me he was going to marry her five years ago."

"But this time he asked her and she said yes!" stated Sirius gleefully.

"Oh well then! That is news!" he shouted as he bounded across the room and hugged James with such enthusiasm that he lifted him right out of his seat. Eileen caught up soon after and was took over when Harry left off hugging James and moved on to embracing Lily.

Order was only once more restored, when Christopher hit his glass with his spoon and grandly said, "I'd like to propose a toast to James and Lily. May their love always be greater than their problems, their friendship stronger than their enemies, and their laughter more numerous than their tears. To Lily and James!"

"To Lily and James!" chorused the room. After everyone had drunk to the newly engaged couple, excited conversations broke out once more, regarding stag parties, bridesmaids' dresses and wedding dates. Although their attention was being fully claimed by friends and family, Lily and James still found a few moments during the rest of the meal in which to glance at each other across the table and those looks said it all.

After dinner had finished, the young people went off to celebrate both the engagement and the coming of the new year in style in London, while Harry and Eileen returned to their own, yet less fun, party, and Christopher and Marilyn left to make some social appearances at the parties to which they had been invited.

"I still think you're bonkers and I don't know what I'm going to do without you," remarked Vicky as she threw her clothes and possessions into her trunk at the last minute.

"You'll be just fine," said Lily tiredly as she leaned back on Vicky's bed and watched her tiredly. Unlike Vicky, Lily had nowhere to be and nothing to do that morning so she had partied quite exuberantly and had not yet been to bed.

"I suppose," said Vicky distractedly from under her bed. "Are you sure you aren't making a mistake? I didn't want to ruin your happiness yesterday, but have you really thought about what you're doing. . ?"

"Yes I have," said Lily firmly as she absently played with a loose thread on the quilt underneath her. "I'll miss the Institute and you of course, but this is the right place for me right now. I can do so much more for the war effort here and I'll still have you and a few others continuing my job abroad."

"But do you really have to be "Mrs. Potter" to do that? Why not just stay here and not get married? Changing your mind about the Institute would be easy; changing your mind about getting married is a much bigger deal!" exclaimed Vicky angrily.

"Everyone else knows that James and I are just meant to be together, that we would get married sooner rather than later. You just don't understand," said Lily loftily.

The words stung Vicky and she retreated to the closet to collect herself and not betray her emotions. She returned to her trunk with an armful of clothes and a stony expression. "Fine. I can finish packing by myself, not that you were helping in the first place."

"Oh don't be like that," snapped Lily.

"How would you like me to be when my best friend is throwing away her future?" screeched Vicky.

"Supportive! I have only ever been supportive of you even when you're doing something stupid!" retorted Lily.

"I have never done anything as stupid as throwing my entire future away for a boy! Along with your career, training, and millions of opportunities, you're also throwing away whatever respect I had for you!"

Lily cast a sobering up charm on herself; she was at least coherent enough to realize she needed one. The effects wouldn't last long but Lily didn't need them too.

Lily stood up and then softly and calmly explained herself. "My education means a lot to me, it always has. But over the last semester I have realized that something else means more to me: my relationship with James. I was losing him Vicky; it was killing him that I chose an education over him and I don't think he would have survived another semester of it, not to mention two or three more years after that. And I cannot bear to lose him again. For now, this is the best place for me and this is the best decision. If circumstances change, the Headmaster said he would welcome me back, if I passed the tests again."

"It's your life I suppose," shrugged Vicky. "If there's anything I can do to help you, let me know."

"You still think I'm making the wrong choice."

"Yeah, but it is your choice and I'll support you even if I can't understand why."

"But I want you to understand; I really **need **you to understand. Then I won't feel like I'm so crazy."

Vicky sighed and sat down on the bed. "Try me one more time."

Lily smiled. "Ok, here goes nothing. I love James; I really and truly do with every last bit of my heart. We've been through so much together that we've become a solid, almost fused, team. I can't go anywhere without him without feeling like I'm only half a person. School is distracting, but I still miss him every minute of every day. My leaving him hurts him, which hurts me, but also it just hurts me to be away from him. Going to the Institute was my dream for a few years, but it's not everything to me; James is everything to me. Being with him fulfills me in ways the Institute can't; it may be hard to believe but he challenges me in ways no one at the Institute can. Please understand, I can't live without him now. As independent and proud and self-assured as I am, I cannot live without James Christopher Potter.

"I know this all seems rather sudden, especially since last week I swore that I wasn't ready to get married, but once I realized that I wanted to stay here for him, deciding to get engaged wasn't so farfetched. I just felt right when he asked me. And I'm absolutely not getting married tomorrow or anything; as right as it all feels, I need some time to get adjusted to the idea or being married too."

Vicky nodded. "I think I do understand now, though I haven't found that kind of love and can't be sure. I have one last question for you and then as far as I'm considered this case is closed."

"Shoot."

"Does your research with Master Livedero have anything to do with this decision?" asked Vicky as she looked Lily straight in the eye.

If Vicky hadn't been paying so much attention to Lily's face she would have missed the very subtle tightening of the muscles around the corners of her eyes, a telltale sign that she was trying to hide something.

"I've been sworn to secrecy."

"Then how does **Teddy Bear** of all people know about it and I don't?" asked Vicky, exaggerating her hurt feelings because she knew that was the quickest way to Lily's heart and thus the truth.

"That is between him and Master Liverdo; it has nothing to do with me. He has fewer qualms and morals than I do and thus is a more attractive candidate for research. After he addressed Teddy, it was proposed to me that I might be replaced."

"But not before you went too far," guessed Vicky.

Lily shrugged. "Boundaries were passed, but it wasn't anything I couldn't handle."

"Yet you're afraid to go back…"

"I am NOT afraid of anything!"

"You were afraid of getting married two weeks ago," Vicky shot back.

"And now obviously I'm not!" quipped Lily as she flashed her ringed hand.

"You can't replace one fear with another."

"Yes I can," said Lily stubbornly.

"You shouldn't," clarified Vicky with exasperation.

"Look. I'm worried about many things. The work I was doing at the Institute didn't seem nearly as scary or abnormal when I was there, but when I got back and you started bringing up all the weird things about us and I realized that when that stuff shocked common people, the true stuff I was into would stop them dead, would shock you even. So I became worried about that and where I was going.

"Then I started to worry about James because he's been rather quiet in the last few days. I'm worried that we wouldn't survive another period of time apart. And as I just said, I can't let that happen, so the decision was logical," Lily explained.

Vicky sighed, "But why marriage? Just stay here and don't get married, or engaged."

"I couldn't turn him down again. We won't get married any time soon, but it is pretty inevitable, so I might as well say yes now. He feels good; I'm ok with it, so I don't see any harm in it."

"That sounds incredibly stupid to me but, hey, it's your life. I'm just worried that you pulled a 180 so fast; is there anything else going on?" Vicky asked with concern.

"There's a bloody war going on!" Lily spat. Then in a softer voice she continued, "Dumbledore wrote me yesterday saying that he was going to ask them, meaning all four of the boys, but in this case I'm talking specifically about James, to join the _effort_ very soon. As you know, things aren't going well and he needs their support. He believes that their youth will bring fresh ideas and refresh the older members. You and I both know what this means.

"It is both a reason for me to stay here and keep an eye on things, namely to prevent the boys from joining or if they join to protect them as much as possible, and a reason to say yes to marrying James. It gives me hope for a better future and it distracts everyone else from the true evil going on. Also it is incredibly likely that either, if not both of us, will die relatively soon; therefore we might as well get married before then and if we both survive and ten years from now we decide it was a mistake we can just get divorced."

"Finally! Something that makes sense!" cried Vicky exuberantly. "Couldn't you have just said that in the beginning. I was starting to think your mind had turned into a mushy pile of blind romanticism."

"Me? A romantic?" laughed Lily. "I don't think that will ever happen."

"Good. There are more than enough romantics in this world," giggled Vicky. "Us realists need to stick together, even if we are physically far apart."

"Write me often?" requested Lily with a smile.

"Too often," joked Vicky. "Do you see anything else in here that I forgot?"

Lily took one last look around and shook her head no. "I'm going to miss you!"

"I'll miss you too," said Vicky in an uncharacteristically soft voice as she embraced her friend.

The good-bye between Lily and Vicky was simple. The separation of Remus and Vicky was not.

Five minutes before Vicky was due to leave, she stood in the entrance hall nervously, and also angrily, tapping her foot. She couldn't believe Remus wasn't there to say good-bye. Sure it was early but he had promised her he would be awake to see her off. After casting one last hopeful look around the hallway to scan the many entrances, she sighed and adjusted the ratty canvas shoulder bag that held all of her possessions, after they were magically shrunk and made weightless of course, and turned toward the door.

"Wait!" shouted Remus frantically as he ran down the hallway toward the staircase and all but tripped down it. "Wait! I'm here; don't leave yet."

Vicky turned around and grinned widely. "I was starting to think you wouldn't make it."

"I'm sorry," gasped Remus. "I overslept."

"It's ok, you made it in time."

"Ummm…" replied Remus as he struggled to arrange his thoughts.

"Good-bye," said Vicky suddenly to break the awkward silence. Then, almost as an afterthought, she gave him a brief hug.

Remus stared in shock as she released him and began moving to the door. "Wait. What is going on? What are we doing?"

"I don't know," said Vicky quickly. "What do you want to do?"

Summoning his courage, Remus calmly stated, "I want a relationship, a real one, no games or tricks. It will be hard but I think we can do it if we both want it."

"I want that too. I think we finally have something going here and I don't want to lose it."

"Ok then," Remus said frankly as he walked toward Vicky. "We're in a committed, exclusive, long-distance relationship."

"Looks like it," she smiled.

"Fantastic," he whispered as he kissed her intensely.

Vicky wished she could have stood there kissing Remus forever, but it was time for her to leave. She broke off the kiss, looked deeply into his golden brown eyes simply said, "I'll write to you," and then quickly left the entrance hall, her portkey taking effect soon afterwards.

Remus stood in the hall for a few more minutes while the shock of her leaving sunk in, and then slumped back to bed where he eventually fell into an uneasy sleep.

The next few days progressed smoothly, but unfortunately all good things must come to an end and their vacation was no exception. By January 2nd Remus had left the manor to return to work, and Peter and Marlene were also back to work in their offices. That left James, Sirius, and Alice to face their upcoming reunion with the barracks with foreboding thoughts, and Lily to wonder about her immediate future as her application to St. Mungo's Healing Academy went unanswered, a concern which she failed to share with any of her friends.

The departure of the three aurors-to-be was emotional, but only mildly so because as second semester trainees, they were now allowed to leave the training compound on weekends, meaning that the time spent apart would be cut into manageable chunks.

The morning after her friends returned to their training and on the day she was supposed to start hers, Lily went to the main office of the Healing Academy to speak with someone about the lack of communication. After hours of being shuffled from one unhelpful person to the next, Lily finally managed to secure a hearing with the Headmaster, a small and squat man with a noble nose and dark brown eyes set too closely together under bushy grey eyebrows.

"So ahh, Miss Evans," he drawled as he flipped through the scant report one of his staff members had prepared a few hours prior. "What is it that I can do for you?"

Struggling to maintain her composure, Lily reiterated her story for the fifteenth time that day. "I would like to transfer into this Academy immediately. In my file you will find my transcript from both Hogwarts and my previous school, as well as copies of my O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s scores."

"Ah, yes. Well I'm afraid you've wasted your time today Miss Evans. We do not accept transfer students, especially during the middle of the year. Unfortunately you have also missed the deadline to apply to start as a first year trainee in September. I would encourage you to begin the application process this October. Furthermore, it seems that your so-called N.E.W.T. scores are invalid because they are not the standard tests taken by British seventh year students, so I would also encourage you to retake those tests either this spring or the next," said the Headmaster with finality as he shut the folder and folded his hands over it. "Have a nice day."

"Look," said Lily, her frustration eeking out into her tone. "I was a student at the International Institute for Incredibly Talented Wizards. As such, I am outstandingly brilliant and your program would be lucky to have me! Meanwhile this is a huge demotion for me. I think you can bend the rules this one time because, in case you haven't noticed, there's a bloody war going on and this country needs all the Healers it can get!"

"Well, Miss Evans," said the unmoved man with frustrating calmness. "I suggest that you go back to where you came from because we, at the Academy as well as this country, have no need for your 'brilliant' or as I see it, freakish, kind. Have a nice day."

Lily barely restrained herself as she left the building and apparated back to Potter Manor.

"Bad day I take it?" asked Christopher as he passed the whirlwind that was Lily in one of the numerous hallways.

"The Healing Academy refuses to take me," Lily spat.

"That's preposterous!" said Christopher almost jovially, believing it to be just some bureaucratic misunderstanding.

"Of course it is! But that doesn't change anything. I spent all day speaking to every bloody person in that administration and it didn't matter! It didn't matter that I'm brilliant and talented and half-trained already for goodness sakes!" Lily cried, finally breaking down.

"I'll go and see if I can sort this whole mess out tomorrow," Mr. Potter promised kindly.

Then Christopher awkwardly put a hand on the sobbing teenager's shoulder, but luckily for him, just then Marilyn swept into view and took over. She put a warm arm around Lily's shoulder and gently led her toward a parlor where she sympathetically listened to the tale of woe, reacting with sadness and outrage when appropriate. Lily was pampered and fawned over until, emotionally exhausted, she retired to bed early.

As promised, Christopher paid a visit to the Healing Academy early the following morning before he reported to his own office. He was met with more civility, but was given the same message. Not even the Potter name has the power to reverse the decision of the Headmaster.

This was unfortunate for the underlings that fell into the path of the raging Christopher Potter. He was not used to hearing the word "no" about anything, especially when it was clearly so wrong. All day long he barked orders, and lashed out with unnecessary severity at any indiscretion.

His anger only began to fade once he began walking up the path to his front door. A glimmer of hope had appeared on Lily's face when he renewed his promise to her at breakfast and now he could hardly bear the thought that he would have to dash her hopes. Begrudgingly, he delivered the news to Lily. Anticipating the worst, she received his words with a graceful sadness.

Having just arrived home from Italy and hearing the bad news, Harry and Eileen decided to invite Lily to dinner at their home so she wouldn't be alone while Christopher and Marilyn fulfilled a social call.

The dinner went very smoothly with Harry being his usual charming and jovial self and Eileen egging him on. Soon enough Lily forgot about her immediate troubles. Then while Harry had to attend to some business he had neglected while away, Lily and Eileen had some girl time.

Almost immediately after Harry left the room Eileen grabbed Lily's left hand and scrutinized it. "I didn't think of this until just this morning, but how is your ring finger feeling?" she asked.

"How did you know?" asked Lily skeptically. "It's been horribly painful for the last few days and yesterday morning I discovered a terrible rash forming under the ring. It's been spreading even since, and it's getting more severe."

Eileen sighed. "As horrible as it sounds my dear, you can't wear this ring. I didn't think that James could have possibly known, but I was hoping he would have chosen a different ring for you. This is one of the five original rings crafted by the Potter ancestor, I forget his name but that's not important. Anyway, what is important is that at the time he, as well as almost all magical people, was obsessed with blood purity. He enchanted, or as I see it cursed, the rings so that they would tell the difference between a pureblood and a lesser witch.

"As you can see, the ring then harms the wearer if they prove to not be a pureblood. I didn't figure all of this out until the rash encompassed my whole left hand. I consulted dozens of history and charms specialists, but no one could figure out how to reverse the curse. The only way to reverse the rash is to remove the ring and never wear it again. Even then, the scars remain."

Eileen removed her engagement and wedding rings and placed her left hand in Lily's. The skin was normal upon ordinary inspection, but when Lily looked closer she could see the abnormally shiny skin and the web of pink lines. It was if the skin had been burned. Most notably there was a deep red ring of skin where the engagement ring itself had once been.

Lily had no words, but Eileen had a few left. "Harry understood and I'm sure James will too. The ring was designed to prevent any witch who lied about her bloodline from contaminating the family tree. Obviously, James knows that you're not a pureblood witch and he doesn't care. And, engagement ring shopping with a Potter is incredibly fun; only the sky is the limit with them!"

"Thank you for telling me," said Lily as she sadly slipped the ring off. It hadn't been in her possession for many days, but she had already grown very attached to it.

"Cheer up dearie," said Eileen happily. "It isn't the end of the world. And you can do what I did until you get a new ring; put it on a chain and wear it around your neck. Especially if there is a layer of cloth between your skin and the ring, it can hardly harm you."

"Didn't it make you feel like a lesser person though?" asked Lily slowly. "I don't know. I know James knows about my blood background and doesn't care, but this is just one more piece of evidence saying that he should care. I just feel like I'm not _supposed_ to be good enough for him."

"Pish posh! The rings are hundreds of years old and if the Potter family couldn't adjust to the changing times then I certainly wouldn't be here. It is definitely a challenge when you know that other people don't think you deserve to belong, but there are good days and bad days like anything else. And it gets easier after a while. If you've made it this far, you can handle anything. I think you'll agree with me when I say that Christopher was your greatest hurdle and now that he's on your side anything is possible."

Eileen paused for a moment and then continued, "Consider this, I barely had the support of Harry's mother, and had no support from his father, but his father didn't really care because Harry was the second born son anyway and Christopher was already married and expected to produce an heir so Harry wasn't necessary. I didn't even have Christopher's support, he actually tried to convince Harry several times to marry someone else, and Marilyn acted as if I didn't exist for fear of angering her new husband. You have the support of every member of this family and more, so if I could do it with no support, you can certainly manage now."

"Thank you for giving me some perspective," said Lily quietly. Eileen's testimony came as quite a shock to Lily, who, since she was twelve, had considered herself to be the most burdened and unlucky person to have ever lived. Realizing that someone else had endured a greater obstacle and overcome it was revolutionary.

"Anytime," chirped Eileen as she waved her hand as if to scatter the unpleasant thoughts. "Let's talk about something more cheery; how about the many options you have and which one to pursue. Just because those pigheaded pincushions at the Healing Academy closed their door to you, it doesn't mean that everyone has or will. What other things are you interested in?"

"Well I love charms most of all, especially developing new charms, but also researching and finding old ones that were forgotten and improving them and using them. I'm also fairly decent at potions, but I haven't any passion there. A friend of mine used to work with me on potions and it was interesting then because he was always finding better ways to do things and making new potions, but we lost touch and now I find potion making rather mundane. I've also developed an interest in dueling recently, though I fear that that isn't a field I'm good enough at to work in professionally."

"Well there are three very solid talents to work with. Now let's start to think about what you could do with them. I know you said potion making is rather boring, but recently I read an article in the paper listing all the jobs that were desperately understaffed and Mungo's is looking for technicians to brew healing potions. That might not be ideal, but it's one way to get your foot in the door," suggested Eileen.

"That is definitely something to consider," said Lily vaguely.

"How do you feel about teaching? Maybe not professionally in a school, but oftentimes families need tutors for their young children, so you might find something there."

Lily make a face of disgust. "I did a lot of tutoring while I was at Hogwarts, but I only did it because my professors asked me to, or I was expected to as either prefect or head girl."

"Hmmm… I never liked tutoring or teaching much either. I'm afraid I know nothing about charms work, though perhaps Harry might. That might be something covered in the Department of Mysteries I suppose. Though I don't know if you'd like to work for the Ministry or not."

"That is also a pretty good option. I'll write an owl to my professors from Hogwarts and see if they know whom I should contact. It also just occurred to me that the dueling instructor at the Auror Academy said I was welcome to work there if I wanted. I might send an owl to him as well."

"That's the spirit!" said Eileen excitedly. "When one door closes, another one always opens! There's more than one way to be a productive member of society!"

"Thank you," said Lily gratefully. "For all of your advice," she added as she absently played with her engagement ring.

"Anytime my dear, anytime," said Eileen soothingly. "Except for right now, because I am off to bed. Traveling can be so tiring!"

Lily thanked her hosts and then retired back to Potter Manor, where she did some light reading and then worked late into the night composing her many letters. Feeling accomplished, Lily set the envelopes in the usual place knowing that the house elves would post them the following morning, and fell into a deeper sleep than she had expected.

**A/N. Hey Everyone! Hope you enjoyed this chapter; it certainly was a big one! Here are some questions as usual:**

**What did you think of Lily's decision not to return to the Institute?**

**What do you think of James's decision to ask Lily to marry him after all, and Lily's decision to say yes this time?**

**What do you think of Remus and Vicky's relationship and where do you think it's going?**

**What do you think about the history of the Potter family and the ring's curse?**

**What do you think about the Healing Academy's refusal of Lily and what alternate field should she pursue?**

**Anything else you would like to comment on? [Enter angry rants about lack of updating here]**


	55. A Lot Can Happen in Six Months

**Disclaimer: I do not own any Harry Potter or Harry Potter related copyrights. I retain ownership of all original material.**

- - January - -

"Morning Padfoot," said James cheerily as he sat down next to Sirius at breakfast the Friday after he had left Lily.

"Hey Prongs," replied Sirius uneasily as he continued to stare at his lumpy porridge.

"What got up your arse so early this morning?" questioned James as he poured himself a cup of the bitter black liquid that the older trainees somehow believed was coffee.

Cutting to the chase, Sirius looked up at his friend and said, "Are you sure Lily agreed to marry you for the right reasons?"

"What?" spluttered James as some of the "coffee" went down his windpipe.

"I mean, you were just saying the week before that there was no chance you would ask her because you didn't think she would say yes and you told me to stop spreading the rumor because it would upset her because she didn't want to marry you yet and then you go ahead and ask her and she just up and says yes? That seems a bit out of the blue. So are you sure she really meant it when she said yes?" said Sirius really quickly and without much forethought.

James almost laughed. "Mate, don't be worried about it. I know what I said and I know what she said about it at Christmas time, but that all changed when she decided not to go back to the Institute; which she did on her own mind you, I tried to convince her to go back. She finally chose me over everything else, including herself. That's how I finally knew that she was really serious about our relationship. She has finally moved on from her past enough to make a solid commitment. I think going away to school was good for her, but one semester was enough to get her to where she needed to be emotionally. That was one of her major reasons for going you know. What made you think of this anyway?"

"I had a nightmare last night that she left you at the altar. It was horrible!"

"That would be horrible," agreed James. "But I'm not worried about it. She wouldn't say yes if she wasn't ready to at least accept the concept that we will eventually get married. It will take her a while to come to terms with the full meaning of it all, but at least she is finally ready to start the process. And we're not going to rush into this; I don't want to get married until we get out of here. How weird would it be to be married and not be able to live with your wife?"

Sirius chuckled. "That would be strange indeed!"

James laughed along and turned the conversation to a less intense topic as Alice and Frank joined them for breakfast.

"Hey I heard that they're bringing in an expert duelist to help us train after that humiliating defeat against Lily over the break," commented Frank.

"Anyone you've heard of?" asked Sirius.

"Nah, I couldn't catch a name," responded Frank. "But I also heard that the duelist is starting today so it won't be long before I find out; I have dueling right after breakfast."

"We don't even have dueling on Fridays," said Alice sadly. I guess we'll just have to find out who it is second hand."

Just then one of the first year instructors entered the mess hall and announced to the immediately silent and captive audience, "Today, and for every Friday from now on all first year trainees will report for extra dueling practice at five o'clock on training field three. That is all."

After the instructor had left, the mess hall was ablaze with rumors as those who had not previously known about the new duelist were quickly informed. As the day progressed the rumors got more and more extravagant and to the frustration of the first year trainees, none of their older counterparts would say anything that even remotely sounded like the truth. Some claimed that the new duelist was a dragon, others stated that it was a mermaid to teach them underwater dueling. James and Sirius, more than ever, missed the days when they basically ran Hogwarts.

Finally five o'clock was quickly approaching. All of the trainees ran from their final classes and were on the appointed field several minutes before they had to be. Out of instinct they formed a defensive huddle when their instructor didn't immediately show himself. The seconds ticked by and tension mounted. Everyone had their wands at the ready and were going over spells in their heads, some mouthing the words silently. This heightened state of readiness exploded when a red beam of light cut through the darkness and one of their comrades sank to the ground. Spells abounded and by the time the trainees realized what was happening, two-thirds of the group had been felled by friendly fire.

Stepping away from the fallen, the survivors reformed their defensive circle. They were summarily disposed of as well, though at least this time it wasn't by the hand of their fellow trainees.

"What the bloody hell?" asked Sirius as he rubbed his head once he came to. Those around him were similarly grumbling.

Their mumbling and groaning came to a sharp halt when a magically amplified voice barked, "Get up you pathetic excuses for auror trainees! We have work to do! The next person to moan, groan, or grumble will have to answer to me."

The trainees, silently and very rapidly jumped to their feet and faced the source of the voice, a tall and slim woman who looked to be about twenty-five with long and straight black hair and light grey eyes. She didn't look to be that formidable, but the trainees had not forgotten their very recent encounter with the frozen ground and so didn't dare laugh or relax.

"Are you auror trainees or flobberworms?" She barked again. "Fall into line!"

The aurors did as they were told, but not without a bit of difficulty.

The woman grimly surveyed what she had been given to work with and decided that they weren't half bad. "Ok," she started, a hint more civilly than her previous addresses. "Here's how this is going to go. On Fridays you will come to me and we will practice your dueling skills. Your regular instructor will continue to lecture you on form and formalities and train you in maneuvers authorized by the department. I am here to train you for the real world. This is not playtime! WE ARE IN A WAR AND IF YOU WERE OUT IN THE REAL WORLD YOU WOULD ALL BE DEAD RIGHT NOW!"

The woman let her words take their full effect as they rang out across the field and washed over her pupils. Then she began again. "There are only a few rules. Number one: do not kill anyone and that includes me, not that any of your sorry arses could. Number two: any spells you learned in your first three years of Hogwarts are not to be used here. Number three: you do what I say when I say it not matter how stupid you think it is. Number four: don't do anything that could land you in Azkaban because I will send you there and I don't care who your father is or if your uncle plays Quidditch with the Minister on the weekends. Number five: you will get hurt on this field. If you need medical attention get some; if you don't then I don't want to hear about it. Number six: leave everything behind you when you step onto this field. I don't have any room for drama or petty arguments or lifelong friendships in my class. The moment you step onto this field you are completely alone unless I say otherwise. Understood? AM I SPEAKING JAPANESE OR ARE YOU ALL JUST STUPID? NOD YOUR HEADS IF YOU UNDERSTAND!"

The trainees nervously nodded their heads as the crazy woman instructed. Those who knew Alastor Moody were somewhat convinced that he had a daughter he had never mentioned before and she was standing in front of them. Then they dismissed that thought because who would ever even hug Moody, never mind have a child with him?

"Good. Now I'm going to go easy on you since it's your first day. We are going to start with a pop quiz. Now who can tell me how it happened that you were all disarmed and knocked unconscious five minutes ago?"

No one volunteered to answer the question.

"No volunteers eh? Well I'll just have to pick someone then won't I? You- man with the green robes and blonde hair."

"Uhhh… I don't know," he said as firmly as he could.

"Of course you don't! If you knew better I would expect that you would have done better! That will be today's lesson: ambush and how to combat it. Now if you somehow managed to make the enormously stupid mistake of gathering in an open and flat field surrounded by trees, you will probably be ambushed. If that happens you can't just curse yourselves for falling asleep during that particular lecture you will have to deal with it. Now I am going to split you into two groups. Everyone to the left of the woman with blue robes and brown hair, come with me, the rest of you sit here and figure out your strategy because you are about to be ambushed."

The drill ran anything but smoothly, but the instructor hadn't expected it to go well. She wanted to challenge the trainees and the fact that there wasn't a single team who was able to survive on the field for more than two minutes showed her that she had achieved her goal. After running the students ragged for almost two hours, she gathered them together for a few parting words before she released them.

"Well you survived," she began somewhat encouragingly. "But that was all you did. I expected better of the students working towards being released into the middle of a war. At this rate you'll never make it. You may think you only need to start fighting when you get out of here, but I am going to make you fight **now**. We'll start with the same drill next week and I expect that by then you will have devised a better strategy. Dismissed."

"That was ridiculous," spat Sirius as soon as he was sure he was out of earshot of the instructor. "Who was that bitch?"

"It was Lily you idiot," laughed James.

"What?" gasped Sirius and Alice at the same time.

James chuckled. "Who else would it be? She is the only one talented enough to bring in here and she was basically offered the job when she dueled Mick last month. And everything she did was obvious: the way she walked, the words she used… I'm surprised by you Alice; you lived with her for seven years. How could you not know?"

"I suppose I was too busy not getting my arse handed to me to pay attention," grumbled Alice irritably.

"You're off your rocker mate," said Sirius dismissively. "Lily is going to the Healing Academy; there's no way she would have time to spend time here too."

"Well, we can find out pretty quickly. We're off at eight and I'm going home, which is where Lily will be and we can ask her," said James confidently.

"I'll going to be staying here this weekend, things are too crazy at home, so send me an owl and let me know please," requested Alice.

Sirius ran from the apparation point to the Potter's front door where Lily was waiting for her boys. "Are you the dueling instructor at the Auror Academy?" asked Sirius breathlessly.

"Who else would it be?" asked Lily rhetorically.

Sirius looked puzzled and then slightly irritated. "I can't believe that I didn't figure it out! How could I miss that?"

"Well, I must say that I did a superb job disguising myself; voice altering charms aren't easy you know!" laughed Lily. "Don't be too hard on yourself Sirius; I tried to make it so that you wouldn't be able to figure it out."

"You couldn't fool me though," said James as he sauntered up to the door.

"That would have taken much more work," admitted Lily. "Welcome home," she added with a kiss.

"Thanks," said James with a face splitting grin. "Now tell me what happened with the Healing Academy?"

Lily explained the whole story to James and Sirius and then listened to the tales of their week. Despite such a bad start to the week, it had ended perfectly in Lily's opinion.

- - February - -

Many weeks passed in this same manner. Lily got a part time job at St. Mungo's making healing potions, a job she despised but knew was desperately needed, and continued making life hell for the trainees at the Auror Academy once a week. Alice, Sirius and James were all blossoming at their training and enjoying the classes much more since the topics began to get more interesting. Alice and Frank's relationship was also blooming as their four and a half month anniversary (their friends found the bimonthly celebration as nauseating as it sounds) came and went. Vicky was doing well at the Institute and wrote Remus, who was still chugging along at his job and barely managing full moons by himself, daily. For Remus, the daily letters from Vicky became his only sunshine. Peter and Beth were still slowly building their relationship and both were doing a decent job at the Ministry. Marlene was winning hearts left and right with her tight robes and flashy smile; her work performance sometimes suffered, but it wasn't anything a coy smile and fluttering eyelashes couldn't handle.

"Teddy," sighed Vicky as she heard the telltale swish of extravagantly expensive robes. She had been writing a letter to Lily at a table in the library when, due to her finely tuned sense, she had felt another human presence. She quickly turned her head, but her stalker was quicker and dove behind a bookcase; unfortunately for him, he had become far too predictable to avoid detection. "She is not going to answer your letters and for the last time, she is not coming back."

Teddy stalked out from behind his poor hiding spot and pouted. "But-"

"No," said Vicky, cutting him off. "She is doing what is best for her right now, not what you think is best for her right now."

"But she is just so powerful and great and the only one who can really even attempt to keep up with me around here," he began pitifully.

Vicky scoffed. "You are not anywhere near being number one here and she wasn't that close either. What is really going on? You have asked me about her twice a day for the last six weeks and have written her over seventy letters, all of which have gone unanswered."

"I may be in love with her," said Teddy monotonously. It was the most pathetic announcement of passion Vicky had ever heard, or heard of.

Vicky snorted, trying to contain her mirth, but when that failed she let it out in full-blown chuckles. If it had been anyone else, Vicky would have tried to spare his/her feelings, but this was Teddy, the man who had tormented her friend for as long as he had known her, both in person and via owl. In her opinion, he didn't deserve her courtesy. When she finally calmed down and his complexion had reddened significantly, Vicky attempted to set him straight for the last time.

"Look, maybe you are in love with her, I don't know. But what I do know is that you love her talent, her magical and physical abilities, but she is so much more than that and you never took the time to get to know the rest of her. James loves all of her; I've seen it. So just let her go and find some other talented woman; there are plenty of them here."

Teddy nodded curtly and stated, "I will never find another like her. If I cannot have her, I will have no one."

Vicky just watched him leave with a confused expression. Once he was out of earshot she mumbled, "drama queen" and resumed her writing.

In the afternoon of the last Saturday in February, Lily was in the Potter library writing reports from the previous class, when Sirius, proverbial tail between his legs, sat down across from her.

"Hey Sirius," she said, too distracted to notice his distraught expression.

"Lils, I screwed up and I mean royally screwed up," he began.

Immediately Lily put down her quill and said, "Like Azkaban screwed up?"

Sirius shook his head. "You know Tina?"

Lily nodded and said, "What happened?"

"I kinda slept with her… Wednesday night… in the locker rooms of the training gym. We were the only ones left there and it just sort of happened… And now she won't talk to me."

Lily was genuinely surprised. She and James had joked and teased Sirius about the sexual tension between the two of them, but she never thought it would go anywhere… Tina just didn't seem like his type.

"Well…" Lily started slowly. "Was it good?"

Sirius frowned. "Of course it was! I am incredible in bed… or in this case floor. Just ask Marlene!"

"Marlene…? I think you just let a cat out of the bag because she never told me about that," said Lily calmly.

"Oops," said Sirius sheepishly. "She did mention that I shouldn't tell anyone…"

"Christmas eve right? During the party?" As Sirius nodded, Lily continued, saying, "I thought as much. You do know she was pretty intoxicated by then right?"

"Yeah but I didn't realize it at the time because I wasn't doing much better," said Sirius defensively.

"That's a whole other issue," sighed Lily. "Let's talk about the current one. What happened with Tina afterwards?"

"Umm… we got dressed. She told me not to follow her to closely and we went back to the barracks."

"That was it? Ok then what about the next morning."

"I had breakfast with Prongs, Alice and Frank as usual."

"Did you say anything to Tina?"

A light dawned in Sirius's eyes. "I didn't! I should have invited her to breakfast with us because it was after that that I tried to talk to her and she yelled at me. So now what do I do?"

"I would start by apologizing to her. But there's a bigger issue here. Do you want either a romantic or purely sexual relationship with her?"

Sirius thought about it. "Not really. It kinda seemed like a one-time thing."

"Well you'll have to find a nice way to tell her that, and also ask her what she wants or expected. Maybe go with that first," suggested Lily.

"No wonder you got into genius school," joked Sirius. "Thanks for the advice!"

- - March - -

The next week brought Alice furiously knocking on James's bedroom door, interrupting a very pleasant snog. "LILY! I NEED YOU!" shouted Alice.

Eventually Lily emerged, looking somewhat presentable and only slightly furious. "Come on Alice, let's go in my room and we can talk. What's the matter?"

"Frank and I had a fight today!" cried Alice. "And I don't know what to do."

"What did you fight about?" asked Lily sensibly.

"He wants me to meet his mother," sobbed Alice. "And I don't see why I have to! Why can't we just keep going to way we are?"

"Well Alice," said Lily soothingly as she fetched her a tissue. "You've been dating him for a while now and it's understandable that he would want to take your relationship to a more mature level. And I'm sure Frank's mother is a wonderful woman who will love you."

"She's a horrible woman!" spat Alice. "She's a crotchety overbearing old bat! No one will ever be good enough for her perfect prat of a son!"

"Now who told you that? That sounds like a vicious rumor to me," countered Lily.

"Everyone knows it!"

"And who is everyone?"

"James, Sirius, Marlene…"

"Have any of them even met her?" asked Lily skeptically. "I don't recall Mrs. Longbottom being at either of the Potter Christmas Eve balls that I've been too."

"That's because she's an old hag and no one wants her."

"Alice, for Merlin's sake pull yourself together and be reasonable. What is the real reason you don't want to meet Frank's mum?" she asked as she shook her friend gently.

"What if she doesn't like me and tells Frank to stop dating me?"

"I don't think Frank will do that," said Lily kindly. "And you have to realize that the horrible person you have described certainly could not have raised an amazing person like Frank. Plus, she will love you just because Frank does."

"I don't know Lily," sniffled Alice as she moved away from Lily and began pacing. "The way I see it is that we could just go on being perfectly happy and I don't meet his mum, or I could meet his mum and there's a very real chance that we would break up. I think I'll stick with the guaranteed happiness."

"But," said Lily interrupting her. "That was all before Frank asked you to do this. Now he isn't going to be happy unless you do meet his mum. The way I see it now is that you can continue to refuse to meet his mum and he'll think you aren't serious about the relationship and you'll break up, or you could meet his mum and only _maybe_ break up."

"Why couldn't he have just let things be?" shrieked Alice. "It was all going so smoothly and then he just ruined everything."

"Alice! Alice! Alice!" called Lily to no avail. Alice was hysterical. "You are being ridiculous!" shouted Lily.

"I am not!"

"You are," confirmed Lily softly. "I was really scared to meet Mrs. Potter, but I did it anyway because it was important to James and James is important to me. And now that I've done it, I'm much happier. You'll be terribly frightened beforehand and probably during it, but then it will be over and you'll be very relieved."

Alice sat on the floor and sobbed some more, but it was clear that she was calming down. Lily sat down with her and rubbed her back, not saying anything.

Eventually Lily stated, "You talked to Marlene about this first didn't you."

"How did you know?" asked Alice as she wiped her nose.

"Because I'm guessing that it was Marlene who put all this nonsense into your head. She can be such a jealous ninny sometimes."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, as I'm sure she's told you, she has had plenty of _suitors_ in the Ministry lately, too many in my opinion, but that's irrelevant. But, she hasn't found anyone special enough that he would ask her to meet his mum and when she heard that Frank was that serious about you, I'm sure that she was probably really jealous and lashed out, telling you how horrible it would be and what a hag Frank's mum is. It's much easier for me to be happy for you because this happiness is something we share. I think it's hard for Marlene, maybe that's why she has been sleeping around so much…" Lily mused.

"I think it's also because she isn't interested in her job," said Alice. "She's always complaining about how boring it is and you know how Marlene can't stand to be bored."

"Yeah I got the feeling it was just a game for her. So I'm guessing that Sirius on Christmas Eve wasn't her first," said Lily with accusing undertones.

Alice confirmed Lily's suspicions by nodding. "How did you find out? Sirius?"

Lily nodded.

"It's not that she didn't want to tell you Lily…" said Alice in defense of her absent friend. "It's just that you can be… well you can be judgmental sometimes and she knew that if you knew the full extent of what she's been up to you would disapprove and make her feel badly about it."

Lily sighed.

"You know it's true," said Alice, pushing just a bit too far.

Lily snapped. "So what? Doesn't she realize that she's playing a dangerous game?"

Alice raised her voice saying, "Not everyone ends up like your sister Lily. Marlene says she's being very careful; she's on the potion and everything."

Lily took a deep breath and said, "I don't want to talk about it anymore. Let's get back to your problem. What are you going to do?"

"I guess I'll meet his mum. I suppose I'll have to do it eventually because I'm starting to think Frank could be the one," she admitted shyly.

"Oh?" asked Lily was a supportive grin. "Do you love him?"

"I think so…" said Alice slowly. "How do you know?"

"You'll know," said Lily confidently. "There was just one day when he looked at me and I just knew. This is why you're so freaked out though, isn't it?"

Alice nodded her head.

"That's understandable," said Lily sagely. "The stakes are higher because you like him and maybe even love him. I think he's telling you that he might love you too if he's asking you to meet him mum. He's serious and he's probably just upset that you didn't seem as serious. Just explain it to him and he'll understand."

Alice sighed and agreed. "Thanks Lily! Sorry I interrupted earlier…" she added sheepishly.

"Not a problem," said Lily dismissively.

"Yes a problem!" joked James as he entered the room clad only in his pajama pants. "I was having quite a nice time when you just **had** to borrow my girlfriend-"

"Fiancée," corrected Lily.

"I keep forgetting that," smiled James as he glanced at the new ring that rested on her left hand. "Anyways, I am here to reclaim my **fiancée**."

"You can have her," said Alice. "I was just leaving anyway."

"Thank you," said James with finality and a smug smile as he threw Lily over his shoulder and, ignoring her half-hearted protests carted her away.

- - April - -

"Oh hey Marlene!" called Peter as he saw his classmate in the Ministry Atrium at the end of the work day.

Marlene spun around and waved to her friend, waiting for him to catch up to her. "Haven't seen you in a while Peter, how are you?"

"I'm good. I've been working some long hours, my supervisor has me doing some pre-t-ty imp-or-tant assignments lately," he answered, stressing the vast importance of his work. "But I'm taking off early tonight because I have a date with Beth at McGibbon's."

"McGibbons is a great restaurant," said Marlene nodding. "Their stew is particularly good, especially on cold wet nights like I'm sure tonight will be."

"Well I heard that you're seeing Charlie O'Neill from Sports, how about the two of you join us?"

"Oh I don't know… I have to…"

"Did I hear my name?" asked a tall and wiry man with immaculate fuchsia robes and wavy blonde hair, as he approached and kissed Marlene on the check in an ostentatious manner.

"Yeah, Charlie you remember Peter Pettigrew? He was a Gryffindor in my year."

"Of course!" said Charlie boisterously. "I'm only five years older than you two. Honestly Mar-mar sometimes you make me feel so old!"

"Well, I was ju-just wondering if you and Marlene wanted to join my girlfriend and I for a double date tonight at McGibbon's," Peter said, addressing the flashy and attractive wizard with only a slight stutter.

"Sounds like fun!" he announced boldly as he showed Peter a toothy grin.

"G-great!" said Peter with a smile of his own, though somewhat less self-assured. "I'll see you both there around seven?"

"Yes," said Marlene with something less than extreme enthusiasm.

Peter nodded and then parted from the pair, a smile on his face. Charlie glanced at his watch and noted that there was a significant amount of time remaining before the appointed meeting time.

"So want to go back to my place until then?" asked Charlie with a tell-tale grin. Charlie was many things, sneaky not being one of them. As his co-workers often said, he is a transparent cauldron.

Marlene looked to be debating the proposition for a moment or two but then smiled and said, "Sure why not?"

Approximately an hour later Marlene and Charlie arrived at the pub looking rather disheveled and joined Peter and Beth in a cozy booth.

"Charlie, I'd like you to meet Beth, my girlfriend. Beth this is Charlie, he was a Hufflepuff a couple of years older than Marlene and me and now he works in the Department of Magical Games and Sports," said Peter grandly. Peter liked this feeling of being in charge; he was quite proud of himself for seeking Marlene out and arranging a double date and it actually happening.

"It's a pleasure to meet you," said Beth softly as she shook Charlie's hand. "And a pleasure to see you again Marlene."

"It's nice to see you too Beth, it's been far too long," replied Marlene politely.

Conversation soon came to a silent standstill.

"So how about … that Quidditch game… a few months ago," said Peter as he grasped at straws. Pride had quickly dissolved into anxiety and shame.

"You must get great seats to all the games Charlie," said Beth as she attempted to pull Peter out of the hole he was digging.

"Well I wouldn't say _great_ seats," began Charlie. "But they are better than the average citizen I suppose. Are you a big Quidditch fan?"

"Absolutely," said Beth, her whole face lighting up. "I've never actually been to a game because my mother never wanted me to want to fly so I couldn't go. But I have listened to just about every game since I was ten on the wireless and I read the sports section of the paper religiously."

"She knows more about the game and the league than I do," chuckled Peter cavalierly as he boldly put his arm around his girl.

"It's such a shame that you've never been to a game though," said Marlene with a hint of haughtiness. "My father always gets season tickets to a box and I never really learned to appreciate it until the last couple of years. It's quite the experience, nothing like listening to a game."

"I'm sure," said Beth politely but curtly.

"Well there aren't any games until the weather gets nicer but I could see about scoring you a pass to watch one of the teams practice if you want," offered Charlie. "There are only a couple of old geezers in the office with me and they, and everyone that they know, have been to so many practices and games by now that they don't even bother opening the owls that contain the passes."

"That would be amazing," said Beth a bit more warmly. "Thank you."

"My pleasure," said Charlie sweetly. He was one of those people who really liked to do favors for other people only when it cost him almost no effort and when he could be assured that it would enable him to request a large favor sometime in the future.

After the Quidditch discussion, conversation flowed more smoothly, though it never felt quite natural. But Peter still considered the night a success because the quartet were among the last to leave the pub (though that was mostly due to the fact that Charlie, once he was a bit past tipsy insisted on buying everyone drinks continuously and neither Marlene nor Peter were ones to turn down free drinks). Beth, who didn't drink anything stronger than Butterbeer, because of the earlier snub from Marlene, she didn't much care that Marlene was extremely intoxicated and allowed her to go home with the also smashed Charlie. However, she did supervise Peter and returned him to his house safely.

Once at his home, Beth checked in with his mom, who still waited up nights for him, and then sat him on the edge of his bed. As she was taking his shoes and socks off (this wasn't the first time they had been through this routine and she had learned that he preferred to sleep without socks), he happily told her, "Beth, you are the prettiest, nicest, most awesome, beautiful, nice, lovely girl I have ever met!"

Beth blushed and quietly answered, "Thank you Peter. I think you're pretty great too."

The first time Peter had drunkenly declared such things, Beth had been a little off-put because how could she believe him when he was drunk? She had thought he was making fun of her. But then over the following few days, he had said the same things to her, albeit a bit more suavely. Once she began to trust his seemingly outrageous declarations, she enjoyed the few minutes she would spend tucking his drunken self into bed every once in a while. It was a side of Peter few got to see and even she only saw rarely- he was unguarded, unafraid of what other people were thinking about him and expressing himself freely. She loved it.

"Will you stay with me tonight?" he asked her as she gently laid his head on his pillow, his big blue eyes more prominent than she had ever noticed before.

"I really should get home," she said unsurely.

"Please?"

Beth couldn't resist. She smiled and said, "As long as there's no funny business Mr. Pettigrew."

"No funny business, got it," said Peter, trying and failing to look serious.

"You are just too cute," said Beth as she laughed delicately (like the sound of fairies playing among crystal bells, as drunken Peter once told her). "Scoot over and make some room for me."

There wasn't much room to be made in Peter's twin bed, but somehow they managed. And there wasn't any funny business… until the next morning…

"Good morning angel," said Peter softly as he gently smoothed stray locks of hair away from Beth's face.

"Good morning," said Beth very quietly. According to her romance novels, morning breath could be quite the mood killer and she was sure that the amount of garlic she had eaten the past night made her breath able to repel more than vampires.

"I think I love you," said Peter, sleep still in his eyes, but his expression sincere.

Beth looked at her companion long and hard and when his expression didn't waver, she realized that, "I love you too."

Peter grinned as widely as he ever had. Not only had he just done the bravest thing in his entire life, more courageous than running around with a werewolf in his opinion, but she had said she loved him back! High on the magical moment, Peter decided to go for the home run.

"Beth," he began slowly. "We don't have to if you don't want to, but do you want to have sex with me?"

As soon as the words were out of his uncharacteristically impulsive mouth Peter regretted them. Beth's surprised and a little horrified expression was enough to act like a cold bucket of water and wake him up completely.

And the stuttering apologies began.

Beth let him go on for a moment as she thought things through, but then came to a conclusion and placed a hand over his mouth. "Yes I would like to have sex with you."

Just as elation had crossed Peter's features a few minutes previous, Beth was overjoyed by her daring decision and was grinning from ear to ear. Both halves of the couple had gone so far outside of their comfort zones it was remarkable to themselves and their partners, and even more remarkably neither regretted the jump.

In those few moments Beth and Peter had learned a rare and important thing. Love isn't about perfect choreographed moments or dramatic gestures; it is about communicating with, and challenging your partner to grow into a better, happier version of themselves. Also importantly, they realized that physical intimacy is just another road in which that end can be accomplished.

- - May - -

"Wow that was a close one," Lily gasped to her companion as she placed a heavy hand over her rapidly beating heart as if that could somehow slow it down.

Frank Longbottom sank back against the stone boulder on the outside of Hogsmeade next to her and let his head hang loosely. "I'll say," he remarked grimly. "I told you that your red hair would be a dead give-away! I mean really, who walks into a known death eater hangout looking like the most well-known muggle-born around?"

"I got us out of there didn't I?" snipped Lily, who was still breathing raggedly.

"Barely! Just barely! That was a reckless slip up that we can't afford."

"I thought we were going to be dealing with an older crowd of men so they wouldn't recognize me. How was I supposed to know that Lucius Malfoy was going to show up in the middle of our assignment?"

Frank, always a rational being, sighed. "You're right; you couldn't have known. I'm just saying that we have to be more careful. You can't just change a few facial features; you should be changing them all, especially your hair."

"I know, I know," sighed Lily. "Moody will have my ass on a plate when he hears about this one."

"Speaking of your face, how is it? What exactly did Malfoy do to you?" asked Frank cautiously as he sat up straight to get a glimpse of Lily's wound.

Lily instantly turned away from him, knowing that he would feel guilty for not having her back and protecting her as a good partner should. "It's not a big deal. You got to him before any serious damage was done. After he counter-acted my disguising charms and revealed my true identity, he started a burning curse of some sort. It's doesn't feel like dark magic though, so a simple salve will be fine."

"I am sorry I didn't catch him before he got to you Lily," said Frank shamefully. "He shouldn't have been able to sneak up on you like that."

"Don't give it a second thought, things happen; all that matters is that we survived. Now if you're sufficiently recovered, it's about time that we headed to Hogwarts and reported to Dumbledore," said Lily crisply. As much as she wouldn't admit it aloud, her inner thoughts were pure screams concerning her charred cheek and she wanted to see Madame Pomfrey as soon as magically possible.

"I just have one question before we go," began Frank uncertainly as he put a gentle arm out to restrain Lily from rising from the ground any farther.

"What's up?" she asked nervously.

"How do you live without telling James about any of this? How will you look him in the eye and not tell him that you almost faced torture and death tonight? How can you go back to him and lie to him about where you've been all night?" asked Frank with an almost frantic energy. "I find it so difficult to face her on Monday mornings and tell her that I spent all weekend placing chess with my mum when actually I nearly willing put myself and her best friend in mortal danger."

Lily took a deep breath. "I'm not going to lie to you, it's incredibly hard and it's a struggle all the time, a struggle that has not yet gotten any easier. But I lie to him because I have to; if he knew about any of this, he would join up in a second and I can't let him do that, not yet. He's still so… so good inside. I'm sure you've noticed that this work alters you, puts a little bit of blackness inside of you. You can't see the things we see and know what we know about the evil in this world without absorbing a bit of it. I want to keep that blackness away from him for as long as I can, so I lie."

"On a side note, you know that Dumbledore is getting impatient. James is a good person but he's also a good duelist and a strategist and a soldier. He would be good at this job."

Sharply Lily retorted, "So would Alice, but I don't see you putting her name on the recommended list!"

Frank opened his mouth to respond, but then shut it in defeat. Alice's name had remained absent from the list of recommended members, mostly due to the efforts of Frank.

"Sometimes lying is good," said Lily hesitantly. "If you lie for the right reasons, it can be good. You're keeping her safe, and preventing her from worrying, those are good reasons."

"I think you're wrong," said Frank firmly. "I need to tell her. I can't live like this; it's coming between us since we've taken on more frequent partner missions, not that we'll likely be trusted out on our own again after tonight…"

"She'll want to join," Lily pointed out emotionlessly.

"I know," sighed Frank.

"She could be killed…"

"I know."

"Or worse."

"I **know**. But she deserves to know the truth and we can handle any consequences that come after that."

"Good luck," said Lily sincerely. She then stood up, carefully concealing her wound, and extended a hand to help Frank up. They then progressed through the sleepy village and towards Hogwarts silently, keeping to the shadows as often as possible.

- - June - -

A few days after Frank graduated from the Auror Academy with high honors, James and Lily hosted a small gathering of their close friends in the gardens of the Potter Estate. It was a joyful gathering full of many laughs, cool drinks, and happy reminiscing. Alice, finally having met the feared Mrs. Longbottom at the graduation was aglow with the gossip that she had met with the crotchety old woman's approval, well she at least wasn't hated so Frank interpreted that to Alice as meaning she had been well liked by his mum.

When Marlene appeared late to the party she seemed to be surrounded by a very different glow.

"Oh no you don't!" said Marlene as she slipped in between James and Lily as they seemed to be headed for a romantic stroll. She then caught hold of Alice's arm as she attempted to join a new conversation. "Neither of you are going anywhere. James get the hell away from here before I blow your balls off!" she fumed loudly.

"What the hell crawled up your bloody arse?" James yelled back.

"None of your business Potter! Just get out of here!" she screeched.

"Please James," requested Lily.

"But I wanted to go snog you senseless behind the rose bushes," he grumbled.

"There will be plenty of time for that late," said Lily softly with a sweet smile.

"Fine," he stated dully.

"Thank you," she said as she kissed his cheek and he let go of her hand and allowed her to be dragged away..

Once they were well out of earshot of the befuddled party, Lily slowly asked, "Marly, what is going on?" Her voice betrayed her feeling of being overwhelmed.

"I'm pregnant!" Marlene wailed as she sank to the ground.

"You're what?" gasped Alice. "But the potion!"

"I forgot to take it for a couple of days in a row," said Marlene angrily. "I don't know how I could have been so stupid! I was just busy… And then I was drunk that night with Charlie and I couldn't remember if either of us did any back-up charms the second time around and I guess the answer was NO!" wailed Marlene.

Alice sat down next to Marlene and started murmuring soothing and nonsensical words to her. Lily stood frozen; she hadn't moved a muscle since Marlene's announcement. She wanted to throttle Marlene so being so reckless, but she also still had Alice's warning of her being too judgmental imbedded in her memory from the last time they had spoken about Marlene.

"How do you know?" asked Lily, her voice cold and controlled, sharp against the quiet mumblings of Alice.

"I took a test from the apothecary obviously," spat Marlene as she glared up at Lily.

"Well maybe it's wrong," said Lily, still emotionless. "You have to get tested by a healer."

"I can't go to a healer!" shrieked Marlene as if Lily had suggested that she eat her own hair. "Then my mother will find out!"

"I think your mother will figure it out sooner or later," snapped Lily. "Possibly when you swell up like a balloon!"

"No! No one else is going to find out; I'm going to get rid of it!"

Alice gasped. "Marlene! How could you think that? Don't even say that!"

"Why not?" said Lily snippily. "That's what I would do if I was knocked up by some bloke I didn't care about and probably can't even remember which of my many _friends_ it is."

"Lily!" Alice gasped.

"I knew you would react like this! Well you know what Lily? Not all of us are stuck-up prefect little prudish virgins like you! Some of us actually have a little fun," retorted Marlene.

"And look where that got you!"

"Stop it!" cried Alice. "It doesn't matter how this happened, it just matters that it did. Now Marlene, Lily is right, you need to go get checked out by a Healer because if you are pregnant you need some potions or-or-or something. Now Lily you need to calm down and be a supportive friend because if you can't do that then we don't need you here."

That certainly got their attention. Lily hung her head and just barely nodded her assent. Marlene held her head high, her nose held primly in the air, but the tears streaming down her cheeks were a clear giveaway that she too was sorry for her behavior.

"Have you told Charlie about this?" asked Alice sensibly.

Marlene's wails could have put a banshee to shame. Accustomed to Marlene's dramatics, her best mates could somewhat easily decipher her message and learned that she had dumped Charlie soon after the assumed date of conception and that he had been very offended and even more so when she was seen with a second cousin of his the following week. Therefore, he wanted less than nothing to do with her and even went so far as to say that there was no way he could have impregnated a whore like her, so the baby wasn't even his.

"Ok, ok," said Lily as she sat down next to her friends. "That doesn't matter. What matters is you and the health of the little baby inside of you. So let's take this one step at a time. Marlene, you and I will go to St. Mungo's right now. It is a quick test that I know they have the potions for because I made a new batch two weeks ago, so I'm sure that they'll be able to squeeze you in quickly without an appointment. After we get the results we can progress from there. Alice, you need to get back to the party, it is in your boyfriend's honor after all; James can handle the hosting without me. Just tell him that I'll be back as soon as I can. He will understand."

Once Lily jumped on board, she did so fully and took charge as usual. She may not have agreed with Marlene's decisions or lifestyle, but she still loved her and once Alice reminded her of that fact, she was able to get over the surprise of the announcement and offer her talents for organization and cool thinking.

Alice returned to the party and communicated Lily's message to James and then almost completely tuned out, unable to even keep up a conversation with Frank. He then told her to go and be with her friends since he knew that's where her mind and heart were anyway. She looked at him lovingly, thanked him and quickly departed. She arrived at St. Mungo's just in time for the healer to announce that Marlene truly was pregnant. All three were in a daze as the Healer gave Marlene instructions to visit her usual Healer and what to do until an appointment could be made. Numbly Alice took the informational pamphlets and nutritional potion supplement samples for Marlene who couldn't even manage that simple action.

Lily silently took both of her friends hands and led them out of St. Mungo's and apparated all three of them to the only place she could think of- the gates of Hogwarts. As they moved through the archway and down the lane toward their childhood home, tears silently made their journey from the eyes of each young woman. Without even realizing it, they made their way to the tree by the lake where they had spent so many happy hours. Once the trio had collapsed to the ground, the sobbing began. Alice was the first to crack, Lily the last. They held each other and cried, wondering why things had happened this way, cursing Charlie O'Neill to the center of the earth and back, and knowing that things would never be the same again.

**A/N. Hey readers! I hope you're excited by the short update time lag! There was a lot of stuff going on in this chapter and I am super excited to hear what you thought! I'm going to write a whole bunch of questions for you, and as usual feel free to answer some, none or all of them.**

**Who is your favorite character currently?**

**Do you feel like any character was neglected in this chapter? Would like to see him/her featured more prominently next time? In what way (dramatic situation, romantic scene, action etc)?**

**What surprised you the most in this chapter?**

**Do you think Lily said yes to James for the right reasons, or is Sirius right in thinking that it is still a bit unbelieveable?**

**What do you think of Lily as a dueling instructor?**

**Is Teddy in love with Lily? Should I continue working Teddy into the story or drop him completely?**

**Sirius and Tina: thoughts? Should they have a relationship or just meaningless hook-ups? Did she even allow him to talk to her?**

**Alice and Frank: was she overreacting to him wanting her to meet his mum, or was he asking too much too soon? How do you want their relationship to progress in the future? (slowly, quickly, dramatically etc)**

**Peter and Beth: thoughts?**

**What do you think of Lily and Frank as partners in the Order?**

**Do you think Frank is right and Alice should know about the Order and his involvement in it? Or is Lily right and lying for the right reason is the best way to go?**

**What do you think about Marlene's big news? And Charlie's reaction? (you could also include what you thought about Charlie in general here and if you want him to stay in the story or not). **

**As always, I really appreciate your feedback and I will try to be better about responding to reviews and updating more quickly!**

**-AAA**


	56. A Lot Can Happen in Six Months Part 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own any Harry Potter or Harry Potter related copyrights. I retain the copyrights to all original material.**

- - - July - - -

"Lily, you've got to tell him," Frank told her sternly as the pair sat with the rest of the Order waiting for the meeting to start. "I talked to Albus at the last meeting and he said I could tell Alice; I finally told her last week and it felt amazing."

Lily glanced at Frank dryly and then resumed looking straight ahead. "The way I heard it from Alice, she was absolutely horrified and she cried half the night imagining you in so much danger. I understand your desire to tell her, but did you really have to give her _all_ the details?"

"I just want to shake you right now!" said Frank with exasperation.

"What seems to be the problem?" as Gideon Prewett as he and his brother sat down next to Lily.

"Well you remember James Potter from school? He must have been a first or second year when you graduated. Anyway, he is conspicuously absent from the Order because Lily here refuses to let Dumbledore invite him in and actually won't tell him about it at all," said Frank more calmly. "And I have been trying to get her to see reason and tell him for the last few months. I finally told my girlfriend and it went fine."

"Lily," said Fabian Prewett slowly. "I know what it's like to keep a secret from someone that you love. Gideon and I both decided long ago that we weren't going to tell our sister Molly about any of this."

"Thank you!" gasped Lily. "See Frank, I'm not as crazy as you think for keeping it a secret from James."

"That wasn't the point Fabian was trying to make," said Gideon gently. "There's a big difference between keeping a secret from your sister or family member and your significant other. Frank is right; you should tell him. I don't regret telling Dorcas and getting her involved. Sure we have both had some close calls, but for the most part I, or someone I trust, has been there to protect her. In fact, it's easier to have her here because she knows more about what is going on in the world and so can make better informed decisions and automatically has greater protection because she has all these people here looking out for her."

"Point blank- you're being an immature ninny," said Fabian with a joking element to his words.

"I know it's hard, but it's worth it," said Frank. "And beyond that, as I have said a thousand times before, the Order could use someone like him."

"Ok, ok, I'll think about it," said Lily stubbornly. She was not used to having three people against her point of view and the experience left her very flustered.

Luckily for Lily, Dumbledore strode into the room at that moment and all opportunities for Frank and the Prewett brothers to continue to harangue her were ended.

"Good evening friends," said Dumbledore happily. "I am pleased to announce that we have some happy news to be shared tonight, but first as usual, does anyone have any recommendations for new members?"

Frank took a deep breath and raised his hand. "Alice Green," he uttered firmly.

Dumbledore nodded as Minerva McGonagall, the secretary of the order, wrote down the name.

"Anyone else?" asked Dumbledore, his gaze specifically focused on Lily. She had asked him for a year, and now her time was up.

Lily sighed as she heard his voice in her head. She raised her hand and said, "James Potter, Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew, Sirius Black, and what the hell, Marlene McKinnon."

"Thank you," said Dumbledore softly. "Any other people whom I should check into and extend an invitation to?"

A couple other names were suggested, but all Lily could hear was her heart pounding and blood rushing through her ears. After doing a few short centering exercises which Dumbledore had taught her, she was able to compartmentalize her fear and anxiety and focus on the rest of the meeting.

After the meeting Lily remained seated long after everyone had risen to mingle and leave. Dumbledore sat down next to his protégé and calmly asked, "As I have told you many times Lily, the greatest hurdle in mastering your fear is naming it. What is it that you are so afraid of?"

Lily sighed deeply and turned to her mentor with tears sparkling in the corners of her eyes. "What if he dies?"

"Someday he will die, probably long before you," said Dumbledore sagely. "An exceptionally long life is part of the burden you bear my dear."

"I know that," snapped Lily. "But that could be ages away; I could have decades with him, a _century_ even."

"Then look at it this way; if we don't win this war, Voldemort surely will and exactly how long do you think a Potter would last under that regime? There would be no place for him to hide and he would die a long, slow, horrific and shameful death. Not even you could save him from that."

After a long pause Lily admitted, "I hadn't thought of it that way."

"Which is why one should always seek the counsel of another. Point of view is a valuable tool of which one should have many. I look forward to seeing the rest of your friends at our next meeting; I have already thoroughly researched them and so will be sending out owls in the next few days so I suggest that you speak to Mr. Potter before then," he concluded.

Lily nodded and stood up. "I'll tell him tonight, before I lose my nerve. Oh and Albus?"

"Yes Lily?"

"I've known that the day James would join us was coming for a long time, and during this time I've been thinking that we should have some sort of initiation training and exercises, practical stuff to keep everyone alive. I've spoken briefly to Alastor about it and he is willing to lead the program. I also think I could count on support from Frank, Gideon, Fabian, and Dorcas if not a few others, Hestia maybe. They don't teach nearly enough in a year at the Auror Academy to make me feel comfortable putting my friends in the field."

"I think that's a fine idea; hash out the details by next week and send me a report. Then we can convene a sub-committee and have a meeting within a fortnight."

"Thank you," said Lily simply as she and her former headmaster went their separate ways.

Shortly thereafter Lily appeared in the doorway of James's bedroom, her heart beating swiftly and her cheeks flushed.

"What is it?" James wanted to know. He had been reclining on his bed reading the newest issue of one of his Quidditch magazines, but Lily's clearly agitated state instantly had him on high alert and he sat up straight.

"There's something I need to tell you. It's a secret I've kept since before we were dating," said Lily as she slowly approached him. "The day I turned seventeen I swore an oath to a secret organization led by Dumbledore to defeat Voldemort. As a Hogwarts student there was little I could do, but I was able to pass on information about students and their families such as which side they seemed to favor, and who was friendly with whom.

"When I went away to the Institute it was my assignment to attract some international attention and seek help. Many were uninterested in Britain's problem and some didn't even see it as a major issue, but Vicky, naturally, was very interested, joined the order officially and has continued my mission at the Institute.

"Since returning in January I have been working on small scale reconnaissance missions with Frank as my partner as well as a larger operation that I can't talk about. I have also participated in a few team assignments such as guarding Hogsmeade during Hogwarts trips and ambushing small Death Eater gatherings. However, the Death Eaters are getting more and more active and obvious, so the Order is getting more aggressive with its efforts, especially as the Ministry fails to respond adequately. Long story short, we need more people to help combat the Death Eaters and Dumbledore will be sending you an invitation shortly," she finished quickly as she finally sat down on the bed across from him.

James just looked at Lily for a long time as he sank back against his headboard.

"How could you keep something like this from me all this time?" he finally wondered aloud.

"I didn't want you to worry," Lily told him.

"No, I don't think that that's it," mused James. "You didn't want me to try to stop you."

"You could not have _stopped_ me."

"I know that," said James sharply. "But I just can't rationalize why you would keep something this big from me otherwise. Really, how can you explain this to me?"

Lily sighed and decided to go straight to the ugly truth. "I didn't want you to become involved. I knew that as soon as I told you about it you would want to join and there would be nothing I could do to stop you. It's dangerous; I have seen and heard about bad things happening to many good people. At first people just disappeared, but now body parts are being delivered to their families by black owls. I was scared for you and couldn't bear to lose you."

James groaned in frustration. "I don't even know what to do with you right now! We're getting married for Merlin's sake! I thought you were over this selfish nonsense. You need to trust me with _everything_, not just the stuff that you _feel_ like sharing. This is it, from now on, no more secrets, ever. This is your last opportunity to get it all out."

Lily took his words and stern expression very seriously. She stared back at James as she mulled over his message. "Ok. First of all I want to say that there will always be things I cannot tell you due to my status as a Guardian and now my place within the Order; this concept isn't new to you. You need to trust me to share what I can when I can.

"What I can share with you is this: Marlene is pregnant and I went with her to St. Mungo's that day of Frank's graduation party for a pregnancy test, not for potion poisoning like she made Alice and I tell everyone. Every time I have told you that I was visiting Benjy over the last few months, I was really on Order business, either at a meeting or on a mission. And you know your favorite boxers with the snitches on them that you thought you lost eight or nine months ago? Yeah I _borrowed_ them before you went to the auror academy and I have just neglected to return them."

"Somehow I am most upset by you stealing my favorite **lucky** _most comfortable_ boxers!" laughed James.

Lily smiled and knew that everything was going to be ok. Well, it would be ok after she put James and her friends through the most stringent preparatory program she could come up with anyways.

- - - August - - -

"First on the agenda tonight," said Dumbledore smoothly. "I would like to extend a sincere welcome to our newest members who have each sworn the same solemn oath as all of you. For the benefit of all, I would like everyone to please take a moment to introduce themselves. Minerva, perhaps you would like to begin?"

Professor McGonagall introduced herself to a room mostly filled by her former students, and the rest of the room followed in an orderly manner. Dumbledore then asked for the names of any prospective members. Only silence met his question so he continued.

"Excellent," concluded Dumbledore. "Next I would like Alastor to report on the latest project of the Offensive Team."

"Alright," growled Alastor as he stood up to address the room. "My team has crafted a training curriculum for all recruits who have been in the Order for less than a year. There will be a lesson hosted by a member or two of the Order after each meeting. All sessions are mandatory if you ever want to see field time. After you have completed all six sessions then you will be tested and if you pass you will be granted the ability to go on team missions. Solo and partner missions will be accessible to you after the training committee decides that you are ready and you pass a surprise test. Lastly tonight's session will be taught by myself and Evans and the topic is constant vigilance and personal defense. That is all."

"Thank you Alastor; I look forward to the results of the efforts of you and your team. Next, I would like Dorcas to report on Ministry Affairs."

"Thanks Albus," said Dorcas cheerfully. "For those of you who don't know I work in the Department of Mysteries and just recently finished my training as an Unspeakable. Therefore I have a lot of access within the Ministry and my presence in odd places at odd times is less conspicuous than most.

"What I can report tonight is that there have been some highly suspicious meetings within the Department of Games and Sports between one particular employee and various suspected Death Eaters. Also several time sensitive interdepartmental messages have gone missing this week and were all found by a custodian late last night in a rubbish bin. These events are probably unrelated and could both possibly be harmless but I will keep tabs on both incidents and report back when next we meet."

"Very good Dorcas," said Albus calmly. "Is there anyone who can better infiltrate the Department of Games and Sports and try to identify the nature of the meetings of which Dorcas has spoken?"

The room was silent for a few heartbeats, but then Marlene broke the quiet, and although her voice was a bit quiet and squeaky at first, her bravery was evident. "My ex-boyfriend works in that department," she paused as she rubbed her still flat stomach. "And I have a pretty good excuse for poking around and visiting often."

"Thank you Marlene, take a few moments at the end of this meeting and coordinate with Dorcas. Next on the agenda is an update on Covert Operations from Frank, who is speaking in place of the Hestia Jones who could not be with us this evening."

"We're making progress in infiltrating a circle of suspected minor Death Eaters who frequently meet in a backroom at the Leaky Cauldron. Both Henry and Fabian are accepted to the point were they are allowed to sit with the group, but talk has not ever turned toward any _darker_ activities, though recently they expressed their negative opinions towards muggles and muggleborns after drinking significantly.

"Gideon has reported that his routine stake-outs of the Lestrange residence have yielded no results. In fact it is assumed that protective enchantments similar to those used on the Black house have been put in place, preventing outsiders from seeing any movements. We are unsure if this is a result of the stake-outs or unrelated. Hestia has requested one more month of surveillance with a new direction: to see if there are any holes in the charms, if anyone slips up. If nothing has been found at the end of the month, we will terminate the project. Nothing substantial to report on the surveillance of the other suspected death eater homes and meeting places.

"Hestia is looking for two or three volunteers to aid the Hogwarts professors during Hogsmeade weekends this fall. It was noted at the end of last year that certain groups of students appeared to disappear during the trip and then reappear just as the trip ended. We were unable to ascertain the exact number and identity of students, the location of their meetings, and if there were any adults present. These will all be goals for the fall. If you would like to volunteer for this case please let me know after the meeting.

"Finally, Hestia would like to once more emphasize the need for immaculate disguises and well-constructed back stories. If you have any questions please do not hesitate Hestia or myself."

"Thank you Frank," said Dumbledore. "I would like to reiterate Hestia's point; you have to erase **all** distinguishing features (at which point he cast a knowing look at Lily) and become a different person. Do not become the same person every time, as long as that is something you can handle. As always, don't overstretch your limitations, and everyone should take advantage of Alastor's trainings no matter your experience. Now does anyone else have anything they would like to report? Protective Services?"

"Nothing much to report tonight Albus," replied Amelia Bones. "Two more families have been added to our list of possible targets, one family has been upgraded to known target, and three families have agree to go into hiding and have been removed from our service. By the grace of Merlin we haven't lost any of our people this month."

"Thank you Amelia, the work that you and your teammates do is bearing wonderful fruit, well done. If no one else has anything to add," with this he paused and surveyed the room. "I believe our meeting has concluded. Please follow the usual protocols as you leave. We can ill-afford having to find another new meeting place."

"You all look so overwhelmed," said Lily as she approached her friends.

"That was a lot to take in," said Marlene defensively.

"I know," said Lily soothingly. "Which is why Alastor and I have developed an orientation of sorts for you."

"Speak of the devil and he shall appear," growled Moody as he appeared seemingly out of nowhere. "Evans tells me that some of you are training to be aurors. I want to make it clear right off the bat that this won't be like this because reality isn't anything like what they teach you in that bloody "school", so don't think you don't have to pay attention or that I'm wasting your time. Now Evans, I've weakened the anti-apparition wards for exactly three minutes; think you can get everyone to the training grounds in that time?"

Lily sized up the group and then brightly boasted, "With two and a half minutes to spare." She grabbed James and Sirius and was gone with a pop. Seconds later she re-appeared and took Remus by the arm and grabbed Alice's hand and was gone again. Lastly she returned for Marlene. She hugged Marlene tightly and concentrated more than the others, for apparition was more complicated with a pregnant woman, never mind side-along apparition. Lastly she returned, grabbed Peter's sweaty hand and nodded to Alastor.

Training was long and arduous. The new recruits were pushed to their wits' end in a part of the Forbidden Forest unfamiliar to even the four Marauders. Bruises abounded and a few broken bones needed to be set by Lily, who had brushed up on such procedures for the occasion.

"That was the worst hour of my life," Alice moaned to Frank as the shabby group limped into the Three Broomsticks. Knowing what Lily had planned, Frank had agreed to wait for the group with a round of warm butterbeers.

"It was three actually," said Frank trying not to laugh at his girlfriend's pitiable state.

"We were out there for three hours?" barked Sirius. "I am going to kill Lily, sorry Prongs, but it just has to happen."

"That's fine," mumbled James as he rested his forehead against the table.

"Hey at least you'll be prepared for anything real life has to throw at you," said Frank cheerily.

"If you make one more _cheery_ comment I'm going to strangle you with your own intestines right where you sit," snapped Marlene.

"I'm sooo tired," whined Peter.

"See that's more like it," said Marlene. "Everyone should sound as horrible as I feel."

"Some of those spells were just incredible," said Remus breaking the silence. "I've never seen anything like it. Like the one where Lily shadow-cloned herself? And when Moody moved with lightning speed?"

"How about when they both disappeared? Those disillusionment charms were remarkable," added Alice.

"Some of the stuff they expected us to do though… that can't be real," scoffed Sirius. "Like I doubt any Death Eater has ever climbed a tree."

"Oh really Black?" barked Moody as he sneaked behind the unassuming young man. "Tell that to the missing chunk of my arm," he growled.

Sirius paled and was silent. Moody continued, "Do the rest of you have anything to say? That's what I thought. I'll see all of you next time; we have work to do before any of you are ready to go into the real world. Remember, constant vigilance."

Moody then proceeded to the bar and ordered himself a double firewhiskey. Once the group saw that it seemed as if he was just going to moodily sit by himself at the bar and wasn't going to approach them again, they relaxed and began talking of lighter topics. A short while later, Lily entered the pub, waved to her friends and then took a seat next to Moody at the bar. The pair leaned in close to each other and began whispering furiously. James soon noticed the odd behavior of his fiancée and fell silent as he observed her. One by one the rest of the group fell silent until Frank finally caught on to what everyone was staring at.

"Oh them? Moody and Lily are always like that, don't mind them. So back to the Chudley Cannons, I really think they have a chance this year…" said Frank.

James still had a strange feeling about Lily and Moody being so secretive. It just seemed so odd that she was so comfortable around him; not even his father seemed that comfortable talking to Moody and they had worked together for decades. What could she want to talk to the second most senior, and arguably the best, auror in the department for? Nothing came to mind, and he decided at the moment to find out what she was talking to Moody about.

- - September - -

"Do you _have_ to go?" asked Remus softly with a roguish grin at the end for effect.

"Yes," said Vicky hesitantly as she paused in gathering up her strewn clothes and looked back at him. She was such a sucker for that smile.

"I think you should come back to bed and cuddle with me," he told her as he rolled onto his side and propped his head up on his hand, fully showing off his lean, yet muscular chest. If there was an upside to being a werewolf it would be that it was great exercise.

"Remus," whined Vicky.

"What?" he whined back, with a wide smile because he could tell he was winning.

"Aren't your parents going to be home soon?"

Remus sighed dejectedly. "Probably, my dad gets out of work in twenty minutes or so and I'm surprised that my mum isn't home, grocery shopping doesn't usually take her this long."

"Maybe she's being nice and giving us some privacy," suggested Vicky lightly as she saw worry starting to weigh down her boyfriend's brow. "I've been here everyday of the last two weeks, I think she can guess what we've been up to."

"Hmmm," mused Remus. "I don't know how I feel about my mum knowing that we have been up here 'procreating like rabbits' as I believe Sirius said yesterday when I declined his invitation to play Quidditch."

"Well I know how I feel about it," said Vicky as she finally got around to getting dressed. "I feel awkward. It's hard to look at her when I know what I've been doing with her baby boy."

Remus just hummed in response, apparently deep in thought.

"What's on your mind?"

Remus slowly came out of his reverie and stated, "It has been quite inconvenient to have to work around my parents' schedules and you're right it is a bit awkward to be around them now."

"Ok…"

"And, it is quite tedious to only get to see you for two weeks every three months," he added, speaking more quickly now.

"I agree," said Vicky, still unsure of where this train of thought would take them.

"And I have saved practically every knut I've made since I started working last summer, so I would probably have enough…"

"Enough for what?"

Remus stared at Vicky intently and said, "What would you say if I moved to the area around the Institute? I don't have much keeping me here; all my friends are busy, my job is pointless and tedious, and I'm ready to move away from my parents."

Vicky was shocked; she stared at Remus mouth open and trousers in hand for a full thirty seconds. "Wow."

"Wow what?" asked Remus nervously as he sat up.

"Wow, that would be awesome," she finally uttered. "I can't believe that you would move that far for me!"

"I hope you've figured out by now that I would do just about anything for you," said Remus sweetly as he pulled her close to him and kissed her softly. "I love you."

"I love you too and I'm so glad that you gave me another chance," said Vicky joyfully. "You make me so happy."

"You make me unbelievably happy as well," he replied.

"Still, this is a big step for us, are you sure we're ready?"

Remus stared down into Vicky's warm brown eyes for several seconds before he confidently answered, "Yes. I have never been more certain about anything in my life. It is time that I moved on in my life and I would like that to include you."

There were not any more words appropriate for the occasion. Vicky merely melted into Remus's embrace and enjoyed his absentminded fingers mess up her short blonde hair, his soft breath tickling the back of her neck.

- - - October - - -

"Marly," said Alice softly as she sat down across from her friend at the Leaky Cauldron on a dreary Sunday morning. "I'm going to cut straight to the chase. Lily told me that you haven't told your parents about the baby yet. You promised me that you would weeks ago! It's been _five_ months since you found out."

"I know what I said," snapped Marlene irritably. "But I've changed my mind and I'm not going to tell them after all."

Alice huffed at this new information. "But you're really starting to show now! They're going to figure it out soon enough and won't that be worse than if you just admit it to them?"

"They aren't going to find out," said Marlene smugly. "I'm going to ask to stay with the Potters just like everyone else sometime this month and just not visit home again until after the baby is born and my body looks normal again."

"Well I'm glad that you finally decided to keep him or her," sighed Alice.

Marlene looked to be on the verge of tears. "Well it's not the kid's fault their mom is an idiot," she sniffed.

Accustomed to Marlene being emotional while not pregnant, Alice had some experience in this area and she knew that the number one rule was not to let Marlene get on the pity train because once she boarded, it was almost impossible to derail her.

"You are **not** an idiot," Alice told her firmly. "You are a smart, capable independent woman who is already a good mother to her baby. You have gone to every Healer's appointment and have been taking your prenatal potions. And you have plenty of friends to support you all along the way. I heard that James agreed to go to birthing classes with you, and that Sirius already has come up with some names for the baby."

Marlene cackled. "Sirius must have told you that because he hasn't come up with any _actual_ names yet. Can you believe that he suggested that I name the baby after him, even if it's a girl?"

"I think that's sweet," said Alice dreamily. "It shows that he cares."

"Mmm…" said Marlene noncommittally. "If only he had cared more last Christmas I wouldn't be in this mess."

"As I recall Marly," said Alice snippily. "_You_ initiated that particular scenario and left him afterward."

"Yeah, but he could've chased after me," whined Marlene.

Alice sighed. "You knew that wouldn't happen, or at least you should have because you dated him for months! You knew things would never work between the two of you really."

"You're right of course," mumbled Marlene. "I just had to know what it would be like to sleep with him… I just wish he were the father because at least he would stick around like a real man."

"Well he's not the father and he's still sticking around you, at least there's that."

"True, that will be more than my brothers will do when they find out that I'm pregnant."

"You're what?" bellowed a male voice. One of Marlene's brothers had been passing through the Leaky Cauldron when he had spotted his sister and was in the process of sneaking up behind her to give her a fright when he overheard her fateful sentence.

Marlene froze as her brother roughly pulled her chair around so that she was facing him.

"What have you done? You've ruined this family! You're coming home with me this instant!" and with that he dragged his baby sister to one of the fireplaces and flooed home, leaving a startled Alice and fortunately only a few curious patrons of the Leaky Cauldron.

A few hours later, Marlene appeared at the front door of the Potter home. Expecting her, Mrs. Potter answered the door before a house elf even had the chance to.

"Hello Marlene," said Mrs. Potter coldly as she eyed Marlene's abdomen, which, true to Alice's observation, was obviously larger than normal even under roomy robes.

"Hi Mrs. Potter," began Marlene nervously as she fidgeted. "I have a favor to ask… may I come in?"

"No you may not come in; I know the favor you would like to ask and the answer is no, you cannot live here. I'm sorry."

Marlene gaped at the woman she had known since birth and said nothing until the door began to close in her face. "But- but- but, you take everyone in! Lily, Sirius, my god even that bitch Vicky! Why won't you take me?" she shrieked.

"Your mother already flooed and requested that I not. And I agree with her; I can't abide your type under my roof. In my day, women in your condition were sent away and never heard from again; you should consider yourself lucky that your parents are not doing that. They are a bit soft if you ask me."

"This is a different age!" cried Marlene as the tears began to roll down her cheeks. "It doesn't have to be that way now."

"Maybe you're right and it doesn't have to be," said Marilyn sternly. "But in this house it is that way. Good-bye."

Marlene continued to stand on the doorstep long after the door had closed. She didn't know what to do. By this time of night James, Sirius and Alice had all returned back to the Auror Academy and Remus and Lily were apartment hunting near the Institute and wouldn't be back for another day. Ultimately she settled on heading to the Leaky Cauldron and renting a room for the night, hoping that tomorrow would hold better circumstances.

- - November - -

"So Lily dear," began Mrs. Potter as she approached her future daughter-in-law.

Lily put down her lesson plans and looked up. "What do you need?"

"Well I was just wondering if you had picked a date yet."

"A date for what?"

"Your wedding silly," laughed Marilyn nervously. "You've been engaged for almost a year now and people are starting to talk… I was hoping that we could sort everything out by announcing the date at the Christmas party next month."

Lily composed her features as she had been taught, but she really wanted to grimace. "Well… James and I haven't talked about it much, but we were both thinking of having a nice long engagement… and probably not getting married until after he graduates from the Auror Academy."

"My goodness! That still another year and a half away!" gasped Marilyn.

"Yes it is," said Lily smoothly.

"There is nothing wrong with that," said Marilyn uncertainly. "But I do think you should reconsider. I'm not exactly clear what the muggle customs that you grew up with are, but wizards generally get married as young as you and James are if that is what you're worried about."

"Age wasn't exactly our concern. I'll talk to James about it but he was pretty adamant about not getting married until after he graduated," said Lily, obviously looking for an escape.

"Don't worry dear," said Mrs. Potter easily. "I'll talk to him when he gets home on Friday. I'm glad that we had this chat."

As Mrs. Potter left as abruptly as she had arrived, Lily was left with the distinct impression that she did, in fact, have something to worry about.

Only minutes after James arrived home from the Auror Academy Mrs. Potter had whisked him away to talk to him, long before Lily was able to warn him in any detail. An hour or so later, James found Lily in her bedroom reading.

"So," he began as he rested his long and lean body against the door frame and tangled his hand in his hair. "Mum says we have to get married soon."

Lily sighed. "I know, she talked to me about it too."

"Did she tell you how soon?" he questioned as he moved into the room shutting the door behind him.

"Not exactly," groaned Lily. "How soon?"

"Well she is envisioning a summer wedding for us and by summer she means the first week of June, as in six months from now. She says she has all the plans in place, she just needs the go ahead from us."

"And you couldn't talk her into the following June?"

"No, because apparently we have been engaged long enough and people are starting-"

"To talk," finished Lily. "I know. Do you want to get married in June?"

"I'm still against the idea of being married to you but not living with you because I'll still be in school."

"Well I'm glad that we're still on the same page then, but what do we do about your mum?"

James and Lily sat in silence for a few moments pondering the million galleon question.

"You could go get your tea leaves read and come back saying that they told you that if you got married next year you would be widowed within three months," suggested James jokingly.

"Does your mum believe in that stuff?"

"I don't really know… it might be worth a shot though."

"Or we could just tell her that we don't want to get married yet," suggested Lily.

James sighed deeply. "She's right though… people are going to expect us to get married soon."

"I would think that will be the last thing that people talk about with the way things are going," said Lily starting to get angry.

"I know, I know," said James hastily. "It's just the way things work."

Lily sighed. "I'm well aware."

"We need to come up with something to tell my mum and everyone else. We should announce the date for the June after this coming June with a reason why we're postponing our wedding for so long."

"How about the actual reason?"

"How well did that go over with my mum?" James asked her rhetorically. "Are there any muggle customs we could use to explain the long engagement?"

"I don't think citing muggle customs would be a good idea," said Lily softly. "You remember how well the engagement announcement went over…"

James recalled the influx of hate mail and jeers at both the auror academy and in public vividly in the weeks after the publication of the announcement in the _Daily Prophet_.

"Yeah, I told my mum that was a bad idea but she's just so excited about the whole thing…"

"James," said Lily very seriously. "The more I think about it the more I think that the big fancy wedding she is planning is a bad idea and I think advertising it is an even worse idea. I think we're just going to draw a lot of attention to ourselves and provoke some very angry people."

"Don't worry about anything," said James soothingly, with confident undertones. "Nothing came out of those owls, they were just empty threats from empty nonsensical people. We can't let that sort of stuff prevent us from having the most amazing wedding, the wedding you have always dreamed of."

Lily sighed deeply and was silent for a while. "I still have a bad feeling about all of this. To appease your mother I think we should announce that we are getting married in the summer after next and leave it at that citing that we have security concerns and that more details will be included in the invitations. As weird as it sounds, I think our wedding details should be on a need-to-know basis. Think about it, the Malfoys, the Dolohovs, the Lestranges, and I don't even know who else are invited to the Christmas party. And I know that they don't all usually attend, but if they thought details of our wedding would be released, I would guess that they would come. Do you really want all of them to know exactly when and where a pure-blood and a muggle born are going to be married? That's just foolish."

"So we just don't invite anyone we suspect of being a death eater this year. We'll run the list by Dumbledore and my mother will understand that. She will not understand not being able to go through all of the usual motions of a Potter wedding," said James defensively, implying that he would also not understand the alterations in procedure.

"You had to have known that things wouldn't be, couldn't be… normal in marrying me. You aren't going to change your mind are you?" she asked, putting all of her cards on the table. James shook his head and let her continue. "Just think about what I have said. Regardless, we have to be firm with your mother in telling her we want to wait another year. I think that you had better tell her. Good luck!"

"I'll need it," mumbled James feeling very despondent. He didn't want to crush his mother's happiness and he also didn't want to give up the wedding that he had dreamed of having with Lily. He knew she had some valid points but he was convinced that he could figure out a way to keep them both safe. Between the Order and the Aurors, surely nothing bad could happen to them.

- - - December - - -

"What happened?" bellowed James to no one in particular as he ran into the chaotic lobby of St. Mungo's. It had been over two hours after the attack and still there were victims rushing in and assaulting the front desk where a frazzled witch struggled to find somewhere to put them and someone to treat them.

James figured out that no one in the lobby was paying even a modicum of attention to him. They were all absorbed in their own pain and the confusion enveloping them, so James wandered into the hallway. His senses were overwhelmed in a moment and then numbed. Having run out of space forty minutes ago, rusty and outdated beds were dragged out of storage and thrust into the hallways. James was walking in a valley with mountains of suffering on either side. Healers were doing the best they could but there just weren't enough wands to go around.

Finding only enough strength to move his legs and scan the hallways, looking for and fearing to find faces he recognized, James continued to wander through the hospital. Yet at the same time, to see that face would be a relief for he knew that he was here and James knew he would have to see him eventually and the longer the delay the more horrific the injury became in James's mind.

"James?" The clear, yet wavering voice, broke through the screams and yells, the clangs, bangs and shouted spells and pierced James's consciousness.

"Mum?" called James as he spun around, looking for the origin of the voice.

"Here James," she responded as she was suddenly in is field of vision, putting a stabilizing hand on each of his shoulders.

"Where is he?" James demanded to know.

"Just a few doors down. There's a healer in there with him now; he asked me to leave," she finished with a sob, as one hand sprang from James's body to cover her mouth.

"How bad is it?"

"I'm not really sure. Your father has been through a lot over the years; he'll pull through this," she said, suddenly distant as her eyes became misty.

Sirius nearly plowed into the pair as he arrived in the scene.

"What happened? How bad is it? Where is he? I'm so sorry; I just heard! And they wouldn't let me out of class like they would James because I'm not technically family… I had to go straight to the director… at least he understood." Words tumbled out of Sirius's mouth like his gasps of breath.

Just then a healer exited the room Mrs. Potter had indicated earlier. He approached the small family with a heavy expression.

"I'm sorry," he began as he looked somewhere past them. "There is just so much damage… the resources he would need could help so many more… You can be with him now."

"You can't just give up!" shouted James as the healer's message dawned on him. "Don't you know who that is? It's Christopher Potter! He's an auror and a hero! You can't just give up…"

"Believe me sir, I know who he is. My father is an auror too and your dad saved my dad's life today. My dad brought him in here. I am _truly_ very sorry that there is nothing more that I can do," the healer said firmly and gravely. "You probably only have a couple of days left with him. We'll make him as comfortable as we can."

James just nodded, the healer's burden having slipped onto his shoulders for a brief moment. As the Healer walked away, James grabbed his mother's shaking hand and turned to his best friend. "Find Lily, she is working here," he said simply.

Sirius didn't even take the time to nod as he started down the hallway, alternating between shouting for Lily and asking patients and hospital personnel if they had seen her.

"Dad," gasped James as he entered the room and saw his sick father. He remembered multiple times when he was little, various aurors coming to his home and delivering the news that his father had been injured. His mother would tell the house elves to watch him and she would go to St. Mungo's. That had been terrible, but was nothing like this. People say that the imagining of something bad is worse than actually seeing it, than facing the reality. But as James looked at the broken man in the bed before him, he disagreed. As a child when he thought about his dad being hurt, he imagined his father as still being the stern, imposing figure he was on a daily basis, just with a cut or a bruise, or maybe if he was feeling impudent he was imagine his dad had a misplaced limb or green and purple polka dot skin. This was not that.

Christopher Potter lay perfectly still under the thin blanket that Marilyn couldn't help but adjust and smooth out every three minutes. His skin was sweaty and gray and his breathing consisted of slow and ragged breathing. His eyes were closed and his glasses were gently folded and resting nearby on the bedside table.

"Dad?" repeated James a bit louder as he approached.

Christopher's eyes sprang open and at first his gaze was unfocused, scanning the room, but soon he was able to center in on his son. He didn't speak, nor did he try to, but James knew that he had his father's attention.

James didn't know what to do with that attention. What do you say to a man who is dying before your eyes? James settled for silence and took up a post standing behind his mother. Christopher looked at his wife and son for a moment more and then closed his eyes again.

Time was irrelevant in that room. Outside there were still patients screaming and hassled healers running about, but inside that room there was nothing but the consistent breathing of the famous and decorated Auror Christopher Potter. Sometime later, Lily breached the bubble and entered their sanctuary.

She looked frazzled. James had seen Lily frazzled less than a dozen times, and this event perhaps being the worst; he was instantly reminded that outside this hospital room was chaos, that others were suffering too.

"Can I talk to you for a minute James?" asked Lily as she struggled to tie her hair back and out of her face.

"Sure," he said hesitantly as he looked to his parents. Christopher made no motion of acknowledgment and Marilyn nodded absently.

Lily led James into the hallway, which was now slightly less noisy and congested and tiredly said, "What do you expect me to do?"

"Huh?" responded James intelligently.

"Sirius found me and told me that you think I can save your father's life!" she cried.

"Well yeah," said James bluntly. "You're brilliant and you were studying healing when you were in school; that counts for something right?"

"Something, yeah! But I was only there for four months; I studied healing for four months! I had another year of learning to do. I'm not a healer James."

"But remember that time you healed Sirius? We were still at Hogwarts and you could do that," James argued, desperation settling around his heart like an icy vice.

"That was relatively simple, and Madame Pomfrey had already showed me that whole process! Do you even know what is wrong with your dad?" asked Lily, the stress evident in her voice.

James paused, his mouth open but no words came out. Finally he admitted, "No, I don't know. His healer just said there was nothing more that he could do, that he only had a couple of days left."

Lily held up Mr. Potter's chart and shook it with exasperation. "He has Auror's Syndrome; no one knows why it happens and there's no way to tell when or if a person will get it. All that is known is that the body can only handle so many curses and hexes, that eventually there's just… a… a breaking point and the body just starts to break down. And once that process starts… well no one knows how to reverse it. I'm sorry."

"You have to do something! You must know **something**!"

"That's all I know; I told you all that I know and I just learned it with some research. I can do some more reading but there's not much to find. Now I would love to stay here with you through this, but your dad is going to be ok for a while. I need to help to save the people who need it now. Victims just stopped coming in thirty minutes ago and we ran out of most potions two hours ago. I have to go."

"But I need you."

"**They** need me. You have your mom and Sirius."

"Where is Sirius?"

"He's trying to find some food or tea for you and your mum. He should be back soon. I love you and will be back when I can."

Lily handed the chart to James and then walked briskly down the hall, leaving him feeling numb and confused. James returned to his father's room and took a seat. At some point Sirius returned with food. Hours passed. Sirius escorted Mrs. Potter home. James remained. Christopher woke up and requested a glass of waer; he was asleep by the time James returned with it. More hours. Frank brought by some food on his way to visit another injured auror. James slept a little. The sun set. A healer came by and woke his father up to take a few potions to keep him sedated and "comfortable". James stood up and took a short walk down the now quite hallway to stretch his legs. He returned to his post and more hours passed. The sun rose and Mrs. Potter returned. She begged James to go home; he refused. And then Lily entered the room.

She was ragged. Her hair was greasy and knotted, haphazardly thrown up and out of her face. It seemed as if there wasn't any blood left in her face because her skin was nearly translucent. Her eyes were unnaturally bright and also very bloodshot.

"I did it," she gasped. "James, I figured out a way to help your dad."

James immediately leapt up from his chair, knocking it over in the process and startling his mother. "What?"

"It's an experimental treatment that has been going on in Sweden for a few months. I just finished talking to the researcher and he agreed to let your dad be in his trial. He looked over your dad's chart and says that even though your dad's case is advanced, he may be able to give him six to eight good months. Not _days_, James, months!" exclaimed Lily. "The researcher will be here in the morning to talk everything over with you both."

Mrs. Potter's eyes watered up as she thanked Lily, "My dear child, how could I ever thank you enough for this…" She lost her voice as she glanced over at her sedated husband. "Please excuse me."

James just simply smiled at his bride to be. "I think it is time for you to sleep now. I'll tell you all about how amazing you are in the morning."

Lily nodded and walked the few steps to close the space between her and James. She slumped into his arms and the world went wonderfully quiet and dark.

**A/N. I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Here are a few questions as usual; I'd love to hear from you!**

**What was your favorite/least favorite month in this chapter? Why?**

**What do you think about Lily's friends joining the Order?**

**Did you like the portrayal of the Order?**

**What do you think about the response of Marlene's family to the news of her pregnancy? What do you think about the Potters' reaction?**

**What do you think about Remus moving to be closer to Vicky?**

**What do you think about Lily and James's wedding and Mrs. Potter's request? **

**What would you like to see next? What would you hate to see happen next?**


	57. Wedding Preparations

Disclaimer: I don't own any Harry Potter or Harry Potter related copyrights. I retain all rights to any original characters, settings, or ideas.

_The Potter Pure-blood-Muggle-born Wedding a Political Ruse? Dec. 26_

_By Anita Baker_

"_Last night at the famous annual Christmas Eve Ball hosted by the Potter family, Marilyn Potter gleefully announced the date of the wedding of her son, and the sole heir to the Potter name and fortune, to muggle-born Lillian Evans. In following with the family tradition, the couple will be married in the rose garden of Potter manor on Saturday June 11__th__ at 4 o'clock in the afternoon. The official who will perform the ceremony has not yet been chosen. The reception will be held immediately after in the golden ballroom, the very site of the Christmas Eve Ball, and adjoining terrace if the weather is fine. _

_As usual, it appears that the life of young Mr. Potter reads like a fairytale. Yet, sources close to the young couple stated their shock at the announcement, saying that they were surprised the date was so soon when James had previously stated that he did not wish to be married until after his graduation from the Auror Academy a year and a half from now. Friends of the family suspected that the change in heart was caused by the rapidly declining health of Christopher Potter due to Auror Syndrome, which he was diagnosed with earlier this month. One could imagine why James would want his father to be present for such an occasion, and would push up the date to accommodate him, but this journalist questions whether Miss Evans is truly on board with this, or has merely been bullied into silence and acceptance by her future mother-in-law, who has been known to be sensitive to social norms and gossip. _

'_Of course she is happy about the change,' stated Potter's close friend Remus Lupin. 'She loves Mr. Potter and definitely wants him to be present at her wedding. She and James made a mutual decision.'_

_The faces and body language of Miss Evans told a different story, as did the report of her close friend Alice Green:_

"_I think if it were Lily's choice, she would have waited longer. She doesn't really care what people think, but Mrs. Potter does and she put a lot of pressure on Lily to move up the date. And once [Marilyn Potter] had convinced James, there really wasn't much she could say otherwise."_

_In following with Green's assumption, Lily looked uncomfortable throughout the whole announcement; her smile was clearly faked and she was constantly shifting her weight from one foot to the other. Furthermore, while James followed his mother's announcement by a short speech telling of his joy, Miss Evans merely held his hand and nodded feebly. This is not the behavior of the Lily Evans that was known at Hogwarts; those who went to school with her tell of her independence, ferocity, and stubbornness. Perhaps there is more to this story than meets the eye. What if Lily is not just unexcited about the announcement of the date of the wedding, but also not excited to get married at all? This journalist smells a secret and will do all in her power to uncover it before the wedding in six months. _

_This journalist was not alone in wondering if the engagement announced just after the new year this past January, was merely a political statement made by this prominent pure-blood family and was not actually the wishes of the handsome young auror-to-be. As time went on without an announcement of the date, it appeared that the family was merely stating that the return of the philosophy of pure-blood dominance to prominence was wrong; that blood lines were not important and they would show that by permanently destroying their pure-blood status for love. Apparently, they are actually prepared to go through with this act of defiance. It will be interesting to see the public reaction now that the wedding is real."_

"I hope that you know that I didn't actually say that," said Alice nervously as Lily put down the copy of the Daily Prophet that Alice had handed her. "I would never talk to a reporter about you and James! Maybe she overheard me talking to someone else…"

"Don't worry about it Alice," said Lily soothingly. "I don't believe that you or Remus actually talked to her. She's a journalist for a fluff column, she probably makes stuff up like this all the time! Besides, the article would be just as horrid without your supposed statement. And like you supposedly said, I don't really care about what people think anyways."

Alice smiled and said, "I expect there will be more of these to come. Once Anita Shaker sticks her fangs in you, she doesn't stop until she has sucked you dry."

"Honestly, she's not a vampire," scoffed Lily, who never really paid much attention to _The Daily Prophet_ and didn't know its journalists well.

"She might as well be," murmured Alice, who had closely tracked the articles written about Marlene once her scandal had become public so as to best shield her friend.

Marlene then arrived at the Leaky Cauldron to join her friends on their lunch date. "Sorry I'm late! What are we talking about?" she huffed.

"Anita Baker," Lily informed Marlene.

Marlene's smile instantly turned into a sour grimace. "Oh that little-"

"How did your appointment go?" interrupted Alice. "It's getting about time for that little one to be born!"

"Did you finally find out if it's a boy or a girl?" asked Lily excitedly. Once she had gotten over her initial negativity, Lily had been as supportive as the rest of her friends.

"The appointment went well," said Marlene who was now back to beaming. "The Healer said that everything looked fine and it should only be a matter of a couple of weeks now. I have told you a thousand times Lily; I want the baby's gender to be a surprise!"

"But how am I supposed to buy anything for the baby if I don't know if it's a boy or girl?" whined Lily.

"Buy things in yellow or green, you know, neutral colors, like Alice did," said Marlene simply as she opened her menu.

"I can't believe you Alice! You said you didn't know what to get either!" shrieked Lily as she swatted her friend with a menu.

"In the competition for the title of 'favorite auntie' everything is fair," retorted Alice playfully.

"Oh well then, I won't be purchasing clothes! Babies like toys and… blankets… and things and that will make me the favorite!"

"I think the favorite will be whoever does the most nappy-changing," quipped Marlene. "Babies definitely love that!"

Lily and Alice shared looks of disgust on their faces.

"Well hello ladies, fancy seeing you here," said Sirius gallantly as he approached their table.

"Hi Sirius," the women chorused.

"May I touch your belly?" Sirius asked Marlene very seriously and politely. He had been on the receiving end of quite a few hexes when he attempted to touch Marlene's swollen stomach without permission before he learned his lesson.

Marlene smiled and replied, "Yes you may. And you can even speak to it if you would like."

"Someone's in a good mood today," joked Sirius as he proceeded to stroke Marlene's pregnant tummy and ask it, "And how is my little protégé doing today? I can't wait to meet you and show you all of the things that drives your mama crazy!"

Alice and Lily laughed and Marlene tried to be angry, but Sirius's baby voice was just too funny.

Turning back to Marlene's face, he said in his normal voice, "Have you given any more thought to my offer?"

"I have and I would like to accept it," said Marlene seriously.

"What offer?" asked Alice.

"Sirius is moving into my flat with me," stated Marlene nonchalantly.

"That's so nice of you Sirius," said Lily enthusiastically, though her eyes betrayed her concern and Sirius knew the two of them would be having a conversation later.

"Yes, well I have a few errands to run, so I must be off. I will see all of you later," and with that Sirius was gone as quickly as he had arrived.

Alice grabbed Marlene's hand and said softly, "We're only concerned because we care about you."

"I know, but don't worry. We're **only** friends and he is just helping out a friend. He's going to be spending the nights on the couch only, I promise."

"Ok, Marly," said Lily uneasily. "It's just that… well, Sirius has been more into this whole baby thing more than the rest of us and we just don't want either of you to get hurt. You've been through so much together…"

"And that's exactly why we can be just friends. We weren't good together; we have been there and we know that and so there is no point in trying to go back. He ahs a lot less to preoccupy him then the rest of you lot. Lily, you and James have a wedding to plan, Alice you have the Auror Academy and Frank, Remus is far away with Vicky and Peter is still smitten with Beth. Sirius needs something to think about; he has too much energy. He is just a good friend," said Marlene with a tone that told her friends that the conversation was over.

"Well I'm glad that you'll have someone staying with you on the weekends at least," said Alice cheerfully.

"And I'll be around as often as I can during the week," added Lily.

Marlene smiled and then turned the conversation to what they were ordering for lunch.

_Wedding Plans Forging Ahead while Bride is left Behind Feb. 19_

_By: Anita Baker_

"_Once again, all is not well with the wedding plans for what promises to be the social event of the summer. It was to be expected that there would be some clash between wizarding and muggle traditions when planning this wedding, but Marilyn Potter seemingly ignores Lily's background and input entirely. This journalist cannot even imagine how horrific it must be for the wedding a bride has been dreaming of since she was a little girl to be ripped away from her with a foreign dream of her mother-in-law (read: monster-in-law) thrust in its place. _

_On Monday Lily Evans was seen to be towed around Diagon Alley by the now-notorious Marilyn Potter. The pair traveled from shop to shop where Marilyn merely showed Lily what she had already selected for the wedding. Various shopkeepers commented that Lily seemed to be very dissatisfied by everything from the invitations to the china pattern and that whenever she voiced an opinion she was shushed by Marilyn and told to go away like a mother disciplining a petulant child. _

_On a lighter note, the selections made by Potter are simply stunning. The apparent theme is a play on the house colors of the Gryffindor bride and groom, not typical for a summer wedding, but experts agree that Potter seems to be pulling it off well. Each place setting will have a gold leaf charger topped with cream colored china with a burgundy border and scrolling gold work in the center. The china is a gift to the young couple from the groom's parents. Antique crystal water goblets, wine glasses, and champagne flutes (all matching of course), the same that were used in the last four Potter weddings (sans the elopement of the groom's uncle Harry Potter), will be in use, as well as the family gold leaf utensils. _

_The design of the cake is so far a well kept secret, but rumor has it that there are five layers and the flavors will be chocolate fudge (the groom's favorite), lemon with raspberry jam filling, orange, vanilla, and red velvet. Marilyn has ordered over twenty different types of flowers in varying amounts and so far her plans for these flowers have not been totally revealed. Selections include: white and pink roses, daffodils, honeysuckle, three varieties of orchids, and of course, lilies. Sources say that the selection of lilies is not as sweet and thoughtful as you might think. _

_An old classmate of Lily's, Nancy Dalton, was present at Diagon Alley that afternoon and witnessed a small spat between the bride and the mother of the groom in the florist's shop. She commented that, 'I have never heard of Lily not getting what she wants. I don't understand why she lets James's mother walk all over her. It just seems so odd and out of character.'_

_Another classmate, Betty Archer who had been shopping with Nancy added, 'She told Mrs. Potter that she wanted anything but lilies to be at the wedding and then immediately Mrs. Potter went and ordered 100 bouquets to be placed throughout the ceremony site. It was as if Lily wasn't even there and it wasn't her wedding.'_

_So readers, this begs the question: Is Marilyn Potter designing this whole wedding because the true purpose behind it is just to make her family look good? And is Lily Evans going along with it because she intends to get married a second time and can do it her way with the next guy and his hopefully not overbearing mother? This picture perfect love story smells of intrigue and blackmail if you ask me. It appears that behind the secluded doors of Potter manor dark things are brewing." _

"Hey mum," began James quietly as he entered his mother's favorite parlor, which had been fully converted and devoted to wedding plans. "Do you have a minute? I think we need to talk."

"Give me one second James, I'm just about done checking over this guest list so the invitations can go out tomorrow morning," she replied distractedly.

Several minutes passed by with James standing awkwardly in the doorway. He would have liked to sit down, but wedding related books, magazines, and samples covered every surface.

"Done!" pronounced Marilyn as she called for a house elf. "Grenda! Take this list to Madame Faucet at the fine paper store and have her send out the invitations with tomorrow's post. Now James, what did you want to ask me?"

James levitated some of the books onto a miraculously empty shelf and took a seat across from his mother. "Have you seen this morning's edition of the _Daily Prophet_ yet?" he asked as he tossed it onto the coffee table in front of her.

"Why no I haven't. Does it mention the wedding in there?" she asked excitedly. "I thought there might have been a reporter trailing behind us on Monday in Diagon Alley…"

"Yes it does mention the wedding," he said sourly.

"What's wrong?" she asked grimly as she began scanning the article. "Oh dear. Well at least everyone knows that Anita Baker only writes rubbish. No one will believe this poppycock."

"I believe it mum, and that's because Lily says that Anita Baker isn't that far from the truth. Other than the assertions that we're getting married to make a statement and that the whole thing is a sham," he quickly amended. "She says that you haven't let her make a single decision."

"Well that simply isn't true," huffed Marilyn.

James continued, "I bet that you cannot name one thing that she has picked for the wedding. I haven't even seen these invitations you are sending out tomorrow and she hasn't seen the guest list. She just hasn't known how to talk to you about it. She respects you and your opinion, but you are making her very unhappy."

"I'm very sorry that she is unhappy James, but she just doesn't know how to organize a wizarding wedding for an influential family. All of her ideas were completely off base; it just isn't the same as a muggle wedding."

"But mum! It's _her_ wedding! If she wants to make it a bit like a muggle wedding, that is ok with me. I love her and I want her to be happy, especially on the day that she marries me. You're making this process miserable for her."

"James is right Marilyn," said Christopher quietly as he magically rolled into the room in his wheelchair. Christopher was a very changed man. His presence somehow retained its former power, but his body was slowly decaying. He had lost a significant amount of weight and his skin was pale and baggy, but his eyes were still bright and his back straight. His voice was quieter, but people still listened.

"Christopher! You should be in bed!" said Marilyn, shocked.

Ignoring her outburst, Christopher calmly stated, "If you aren't careful, you'll push her away and then they'll elope. That's what happened to Harry and Eileen, and Eileen has told me that the idea has started to creep into Lily's mind, and if that happens what will your elaborate wedding be then? She's miserable and though she won't say as much to me, it is obvious that this wedding is the cause of her unhappiness."

Marilyn burst into tears. "I just want them to have a perfect wedding!"

"I know dear," said Christopher as he directed his chair over to the couch where she was sitting and began to rub her shaking shoulders soothingly. "I know."

"Mum, we don't want an elaborate perfect wedding," said James calmly as he knelt on her other side. "We just want to be surrounded by our family and friends and have a nice party."

"But what will people say?" wailed Marilyn.

"You worry too much about people," cooed Christopher uncharacteristically. "Let them think what they want."

"Christopher? What are you thinking? Your mother planned our wedding so that it would be perfect and everyone would be impressed; that is just the way things work."

"Mum, I'm already changing traditions by getting married to a muggle-born-"

"I know!" cried Marilyn. "That's why it is especially important for the wedding to be flawless and traditional in all other ways."

"James, let me talk to your mother, ok?" he requested with a soft smile.

James left the couple alone and went to find his bride to tell her how the conversation went. It didn't go quite the way he wanted it to, but at least now James understood better why his mother was acting the way she had been.

_The Monster-in-Law has a Change of Heart Apr. 3_

_By: Anita Baker_

"_As of the last few weeks, it appears that Marilyn Potter has shelved her overbearing wedding planner hat and allowed for the bride to take over the preparations. Sources close to Mrs. Potter state that her son and husband, both of whom care very deeply for the bride and her happiness, spent the better part of a week imploring with her to change her ways. It is said that only when James Potter threatened her with eloping like his uncle, and thus embarrassing her in front of all wizarding society, did she see reason and relinquish her death grip on the wedding. _

_This journalist was very skeptical about the purported change of heart and was waiting for a relapse. However, it seems that the shift has been true. Lily Evans has taken over the planning and has made significant alterations to what had been previously ordered._

_The first thing to go was the lilies. Florist Annabelle Kendrick stated, "I have never seen somebody with such a hatred for a flower before! And to think it was the flower she was named after! She certainly has an odd taste in flowers. I would never have picked daisies for a Potter wedding, but I guess we'll see…"_

_The next thing slated for modification was the type of chairs to be placed at the ceremony site in the Rose Garden of Potter manor. Marilyn Potter had chosen spindly-legged golden chairs with plush maroon cushions. Going in a completely opposite direction, Evans selected a sturdier looking white chiavari chair with a simple white cushion. A fellow customer and avid reader of this column, who overheard this shift, commented "She certainly has a very different sense of style from the rest of the upper-class wizarding society. Whoever heard of white chairs with white cushions in the Rose Garden?"_

_So it seems that Lily Evans is continuing to make waves. We all remember how shocking the announcement of their engagement was (who thought that would get by Christopher Potter?), and now Lily Evans seems to be continuing to shake things up. But at the same time, the pressure is on. Can you imagine being a muggleborn who is audacious enough to marry into a prestigious pureblood family? This journalist certainly can hardly conceive the notion that Lily Evans will be ending a tradition that spans centuries. Never again will a pureblood Potter be born. And on top of that, she has the will power to stand up to her future mother-in-law and challenge her decisions? The bride seems to have the heart of a dragon and the courage of a true Gryffindor! _

_But it can also be said of Gryffindors that they can be rather foolhardy. So, we all know that Marilyn Potter hasn't disappeared; she is probably waiting in the wings, ready to step in whenever she thinks things have gone too far. This journalist wonders how long Lily Evans's leash is and whether she will actually get her dream wedding. With only two months to go before the wedding, it seems like we won't have long to wait."_

"Can you believe this rubbish?" spat Vicky as she thrust the paper back on the kitchen table between her and Remus.

Remus chuckled. "Well, I believe the part about Lily despising lilies and I believe the part about Marilyn Potter waiting to jump back out and fix things when she thinks Lily has gone too far."

"And the part about them eloping isn't that far off," mused Vicky as she calmed down a bit. "Lily mentioned that the idea had crossed her mind… that being said, Anita Baker still has a way of making that all seem horrid!"

"Lily says she is doing ok with everything, but what has she written to you?" asked Remus with concern evident in his voice. "I can't imagine all of this could be easy on her."

Vicky took a large bite out of the breakfast Remus had prepared for her and made a noncommittal face as she chewed and thought it over. "I think she is surviving. She certainly isn't loving the media attention, but she has been dealing with that since she made Head Girl so I think that doesn't really phase her anymore. She just wants to be left alone. How is James doing?"

"He's fine, just worried about Lily. I'll be glad to be back there in a couple months; it will be nice to see them again."

Vicky smiled at him softly. She knew how much he loved his friends and how difficult it was for him to be so far away from them, especially when they were practically in constant, though remote, danger. "I'm sorry you couldn't get time off of work until right before the wedding."

"It's alright, it's nice to have a job that I enjoy," said Remus cheerily.

Vicky smiled warmly and Remus gave her a questioning look. "I just love your ability to find the bright side in everything," she uncharacteristically gushed. "And I still can't believe that you moved so far away from your family and friends to be close to me; it's like a fairytale."

Remus's smile echoed his girlfriend's as he grabbed her free hand in his own. "Things have been kind of perfect, haven't they? I have a great job researching and editing defense against the dark arts books; I have my own apartment in a nice neighborhood and don't have my mum fussing over me all the time, and I get to see you on a regular basis and cook you breakfast after a _fantastic_ sleepover."

Vicky both blushed and giggled at his last comment, both actions that had been foreign to her before she met Remus. "And don't forget that you have your lycanthropy under control here," she added.

"That's right," nodded Remus. "Moony very much loves all of the woods around here and when I am not being confined, I don't injure myself as much."

"And I am doing well at the Institute; did I tell you that I am almost finished with my auror curriculum? I just have one more course to finish next quarter and then I'll take the exam at the end of the summer."

"That's excellent! You passed your advanced defense theory exam last week then?"

"With flying colors of course! Thank you again for staying up late to quiz me."

"It was my pleasure," said Remus meaningfully. "And how are your political science and international diplomatic relations degrees coming?"

"Well you know that I put both of them on the backburner to fast-track the auror degree, but next quarter I'll be focusing on them."

"Good! I look forward to reading some of your materials too. What did you pick to study?"

"Well I am actually, finally taking Rudolf's seminar on making compromises," said Vicky with a grin.

"How wonderful!" crowed Remus. "I know you have been excited for that for some time. I'm glad you were able to work that into your schedule."

"Mmmhmm," agreed Vicky. "And I'm also doing an independent study on rhetoric and the use of propaganda during war times. Wollensky also offered to teach me about the relationship between power and political influence, but I may save that for later. Those are the only changes I have made in the last couple of days; the rest of the classes I'm taking and things I'm doing I already told you about."

"Sounds like you will have a very busy but enjoyable quarter coming up," said Remus with a smile.

"Yes, I think it will be good, just like this breakfast! Your mother certainly taught you well."

"Well, after I was bitten she was constantly afraid that something else would happen to me if I left her sight again, so she kept me pretty close by until I left for Hogwarts. And since I was there while she cooked, she figured that she might as well teach me how. When I was little she said that it would impress a nice lady someday and I didn't believe her then, but I guess she was right," he joked.

"Women always are," Vicky bantered as she wagged the hand that held a slice of toast at him. She gasped in surprise when Remus bit the toast right out of her hand.

"That was mine!" she laughed as he shoved the rest of it in his mouth when she lunged for it.

Remus shrugged as he struggled to chew the food with his very wide smile.

"Merlin I love you," she said flippantly as she settled back into her chair.

"While you marry me?" He put the open ring box on the table facing her.

"What?"

_Lily Evans: First She Ruins the Potter Name and then Their Bloodline May 23_

_By: Anita Baker_

"_It appears that I owe Marilyn Potter an apology: she was absolutely right to take the reins of the wedding planning and just tell the bride to show up on the day of the wedding because obviously Evans is just making a mess of thing as Mrs. Potter supposed she would. This reporter got her hands on the seating chart for the reception and noticed that Lily made a social faux pas in the arrangement of just about every table. Can you believe that she would place the French Minister of Finance at the same table as the German Minster of Magic? Anyone who is anyone knows that those two can't stand each other! I have said a lot about Marlene McKinnon in the last few months, and though she has made some mistakes in her life, at least she knows better than to do something like this! Marlene: we know that you are preoccupied with your little out-of-wedlock bundle of joy and living with that stud Sirius Black, but seriously, can't you help a friend in need?_

_It has also come to light, that Lily has foregone the traditional bridal bouquet of white roses for violets, and instead of a veil has chosen a glittering tiara. Furthermore, completely deviating from the Gryffindor theme established by Marilyn Potter, Lily chose navy blue dresses for her bridesmaids. And worst of all, these dresses are not the customary floor-length dress robes everyone expected, but instead knee-length dresses from a muggle "department store" that one would imagine a five-year old to wear to a tea party! I personally never thought I would see the day when a Potter wedding would involve dresses that are "off the rack." Perhaps Lily is trying to push James far enough so that he'll call off the wedding and she'll be free to escape? Or maybe James doesn't care about his family at all because he is so enamored with his vixen bride._

_In addition to her poor seating chart, and horrendous taste in every aspect of the wedding details, Lily Evans neglected to even invite the Malfoy family, further showing her lack of knowledge of the society she is attempting to marry into by tying the knot with James Potter. This reporter once more questions this proposed union. Is James Potter out of his mind? Does he just want to destroy the image and status his family has been building for centuries? _

_The strain is certainly apparent on the face of Marilyn Poter. Spotted going to the final fitting for her dress robes for the occasion, she looked tired and defeated. It is unknown how Lily Evans succeeded in throwing a coup in the Potter household, but it is apparent that she is now running the show, quite possibly into the ground. One thinks that this could be due to the decline of the once imposing head of the household, Christopher Potter. The elder Potter has not been seen in public in almost three months now and it has been reported that Healers stopped visiting the house more than two months ago. It seems dubious that Christopher could even hold on long enough to see his son sell his life away to a woman clearly unfit to be a Potter. _

_Any of James and Lily's classmates could attest to the fact that Lily Evans has bewitched her fiancée since they day they first met, and now with James's father practically in the grave and out of the way, James has claimed his birthright, becoming the man of the house. With his headstrong bride guiding his hand, it is not difficult to imagine how quickly Marilyn, whom Lily has been reported to detest and resent for trying to ruin her wedding, was pushed into the shadows. Who knows if Marilyn will even remain at Potter manor after the passing of her husband? This reporter suspects that she will be summarily dismissed to the villa the Potter's own on the Italian coast within a month._

_After destroying the Potters in name, Miss Evans will forever tarnish the bloodline of the Potters by mixing it with her muggle-born heritage. Even if all of the future Potters married Pure-bloods, the family could never again claim pure-blood status. Centuries of careful match-making wasted. Is nothing sacred anymore?_

"It's amazing how quickly I went from being the poor victim to a radical, evil, and rebellious bride-slash-dragon," commented Lily as she folded and handed the newspaper back to her fiancée.

"It's a fickle world," shrugged James. "How are you doing with all of this? I feel so badly that I can only be here with you on the weekends and haven't been much of a help through it all."

Lily intertwined her fingers with his and said softly, "It's been difficult, but I have plenty of people to help me- your Aunt Eileen for example has been incredibly supportive, as has your dad surprisingly. Since that talk with your mother, your dad and I have been talking up a storm about the wedding."

James smiled, "It's wonderful that you've been taking care of him so well. I think he really appreciates it, and so do I."

"I know you both do," said Lily with a smile. "And I am happy to do it. He was so miserable and uncomfortable with different Healers coming in and out of the house all the time. For being in the spotlight all the time, I think people don't understand how private of a person he is."

"Very true, and he is very comfortable around you for whatever reason."

"Well, he doesn't have to pretend with me, and his role in his relationship with me is not as strictly dictated by society as it is with other people. It's refreshing for both of us I think."

James grinned. "It's kind of funny; I can't imagine my life without you anymore."

"We got pretty close to that a few times, though didn't we?" mused Lily as she cuddled closer to James on the sofa.

James nodded thoughtfully and then added, "But getting through that stuff makes me sure that we can get through anything. I've heard a lot of the blokes at the Academy talking about how their older brothers and friends were so nervous before their weddings and unsure about it, but I haven't felt that way at all. Have you?"

Lily considered the notion for a minute and then answered, "It's been so long in coming, I think the idea of marrying you is just second nature to me. It seems ridiculous to think of not marrying you. The timing isn't ideal, but what **is** ideal nowadays?"

"Speaking of ideal," murmured James disappointedly as a Patronus he recognized as Sirius's sprang through the wall into the living room.

"Today's Saturday! Sirius was on duty in Hogmeade today," gasped Lily as she and James jumped off of the couch, ready to hear Sirius's message and depart immediately.

"Death Eaters. Hogsmeade. Need help now. Floo to Three Broomsticks."

**A/N. Thanks to all of those readers who have stuck with me for all of these years and welcome to those who are new to this adventure! I know my updating has been spotty at best, but I already have most of the next chapter written, so I'll be a little more dependable for the next couple of weeks I hope! I appreciate your reviews as always **

**Here's some questions for you:**

**What do you think about Anita Baker and her comments on the wedding preparations?**

**What do you think of Sirius and Marlene moving in together? How do you think their relationship will develop?**

**What do you think of Marilyn Potter's behavior regarding the wedding? Lily's?**

**What do you think of Remus and Vicky's relationship? Do you think she'll say yes to his proposal?**

**What do you think is going on in Hogsmeade?**

**What would you like to see happen at the wedding? (It is coming I promise!)**


	58. The High

Disclaimer: I don't own any Harry Potter or Harry Potter related copyrights. I retain all rights to any original characters, settings, or ideas.

"Speaking of ideal," murmured James disappointedly as a Patronus he recognized as Sirius's sprang through the wall into the living room.

"Sirius was on duty in Hogmeade today," gasped Lily as she and James jumped off of the couch, ready to hear Sirius's message and depart immediately.

"Death Eaters in Hogsmeade. Need help immediately. Floo to Three Broomsticks."

"You heard the man," said James almost giddily as the adrenaline flowed through his veins and the Patronus disappeared. This would be James's first real battle as he had only finished Moody's boot camp the week before. He quickly started a fire in the fireplace and grabbed the jar of floo powder off of the mantle.

"James," said Lily as she grabbed his hand and prevented him from throwing the floo powder into the fireplace. "Be careful out there, and stay close to the group. Don't go off on your own; that's how people end up dead."

"Don't worry love, it will all be fine," he grinned and departed.

Lily took a deep breath and followed immediately. She was worried. James had never been in or seen the direct aftermath of a battle before.

When Lily stepped out of the fireplace in the Three Broomsticks, she was immediately grabbed and hauled behind the bar. Seconds later the fireplace exploded as a stray spell collided with the stones.

"Sorry, I guess this isn't safe anymore," said Sirius quickly as James and Lily joined him.

"What's the situation?" asked James tensely. This was not exactly what he expected.

"'Bout thirty Death Eaters showed up here, going on ten minutes ago, and started wrecking havoc. Teachers on duty did their best to round the kids up and more should be coming down from the castle soon, but there are still a dozen or so kids not accounted for. Honeydukes and Zonko's are surrounded but haven't been breached yet. Three Broomsticks has been emptied," said Sirius as he gestured to the silence. "We have three people up guarding the loading of the carriages and hopefully more have joined them. We're going to work on freeing Honeydukes and Zonko's."

"Let's go then!" said James as he leapt from his crouch heroically.

"Get down you idiot!" shouted Lily as she grabbed his robes and stopped him. "Haven't Moody and I taught you anything?"

"Right, right," said James under his breath, his eyes wide with fear and his limbs quivering due to the adrenaline bath his muscles were receiving.

Once she was confident that James would be more careful, Lily instructed two of the people she loved the most saying, "Cover me and we'll regroup 20 meters from Zonko's."

"Right," said Sirius steadily, though Lily could tell he was nervous as well.

"Try to relax and remember what Moody and I said; you can do this," said Lily quickly before she leapt from behind the counter to behind an overturned table.

It seemed as if the bar was not being targeted, so Lily became bolder, making steady progress out of the room. James and Sirius soon followed, replicating her careful pattern of maintaining cover. Then all three were hiding in the shadows of the front of the Three Broomsticks taking in the destruction of the village that held special memories for all three of them. They could see in the distance smoke billowing from a burning house and green light streaking out of another. Bodies lay strewn about, some in disgusting contorted positions and others looking as if they could just be taking a brief rest in the middle of the road… in pools of blood... Sirius couldn't help himself; he ducked down and vomited violently. James and Lily were kind enough to avert their eyes and no one ever spoke of the incident.

"Let's go kick some arse," said Sirius sternly, rage overwhelming his fear for the moment. Bravely, yet foolhardily, as Lily noted, Sirius walked out of the Three Broomsticks, his head high, his back straight, his eyes glinting dangerously, and his robes streaming behind him.

Despite Lily's initial plea to James, the pair soon became separated in the chaos as James became engaged in a duel with a pair of Death Eaters and Lily continued on with Sirius. By the time Sirius and Lily arrived on the scene, they were overjoyed to see that the besieged students were fighting back- with Zonko's products! As Sirius later noted, he had never been so proud in his life and attributed the pranking, fighting spirit that had been instilled in the students to himself and his other partners-in-crime. Little did he know, that Minerva McGonagall also witnessed the scene and proudly thought the same thing; not that she would ever tell him that of course!

Invigorated by the smell of dungbombs and the sound of Fanged Frisbees wooshing through the air, Sirius joined the other adults surrounding the attackers and began stunning and binding the distracted Death Eaters. Lily made her way towards the store front where the older students were using what limited spells they knew to fight off the Death Eaters who were not so easily distracted. Fighting beside students, _children_, she grimly noted, that had been her peers not so long ago, infused a sense of solemnity in Lily. Her heart was chilled by the thought that the Death Eaters were robbing the students of much more than their friends; innocence is something that can never be retrieved or replaced and many, many children were making the abrupt shift to adulthood on that unseasonably warm and cloudy spring day.

Soon all of the Death Eaters around Zonko's had run off or were stunned and Lily wiped her sweaty forehead and looked at the tired, but cheering students around her.

"Listen to me!" She ordered them, using her best Head Girl voice. "Hogsmeade still isn't safe; you have to get back to the castle! Stay together and don't stop until you get to the carriages. Sirus, Frank, Minerva!" she called to the three closest people she could recognize. "Guard the students on their way to the carriages. Everyone else come with me and we'll continue on to Honeyduke's."

The inhabitants of Hogsmeade who had been fighting alongside Lily and the other Order members did not really know who Lily was, but it seemed like she had a plan and no one else did, so they did as she said. Honeydukes, though not far from Zonko's, was a completely different battlefield. Lily couldn't see any children around, for which she was grateful, but both Death Eaters and the newly arrived aurors were locked in furious combat. Seeing friends and neighbors struggling, the other people streamed past Lily, tired but eager to restore the peace of the village.

Lily was concentrating on forming a plan when she felt the smooth end of a wand on the back of her neck and heard a familiar voice whisper in her ear. "Don't say a word; do exactly as I say. Walk down the alley on your right and then take a left and stay behind the building."

Lily cursed herself for losing her concentration and being so vulnerable, but she knew that she would not come to any harm. They had been through a lot and had definitely aligned themselves with different teams, but Snape wouldn't hurt her, of this she was sure.

"You can take off the mask Severus; I know it's you," said Lily softly as they reached the appointed place.

"Lily Evans, or should I say _Potter_," sneered her childhood friend as he did as she recommended.

"Is this about me marrying James?" asked Lily tiredly. "If you didn't notice, I'm a little busy at the moment- saving lives!"

"This battle is all but over," said Snape dismissively. "What I have to say is much more important and we're not going to get this opportunity again. There are many people you have pissed off with this marriage Lily; some of whom are on the _guest list_," he hissed.

"I know," admitted Lily. "We've planned for that. For everyone I have suspected of being potentially… troublesome, there are two aurors or people I trust."

"You trust too many people then," muttered Snape derisively.

"Or you trust too few," countered Lily.

Snape paused for a moment and then, slowly acknowledged their friendship by saying, "Just be careful Lily. I wouldn't want to see you get hurt."

Rather than trying to convince him one last time to change sides, Lily simply hugged the man before her, knowing that there was some good left in him.

The moment was shattered by screams and shouts of horror.

Recognition dawned on Severus's face and his voice was grim. "The Dark Lord is here."

The desperate plan Lily had kept at the back of her mind sprang to the forefront, and out of concern for her once friend, Lily told him urgently, "Get out of here, now."

"I can't."

"I'm sorry." And with that she had stunned him.

The carnage was worse than Lily could imagine. The only relief was that there still didn't appear to be any children around. Voldemort was in the center of the action and his sheer presence seemed to simultaneously paralyze the aurors and other non-masked figures and to give strength to his followers.

Lily felt angry. So angry that it filled her stomach and started to bleed into her abdomen and sneaking tendrils crept up into her heart. She allowed herself to feed off of the anger, for once not denying or controlling it. Raw power soared into her arteries, rushing through her limbs and searing her muscles with its strength.

"That is enough!" she bellowed as she stepped into the street in the middle of the fighting.

Heads turned as her surreal voice echoed off of the buildings. Fighting ceased. She was quite the creature to behold. Her hair, often described as fiery, now appeared to actually be tongues of fire licking her scalp as they twisted and danced in all directions like a devilish halo. Little white sparks were leaping up and down her wand arm and her skin seemed to be glowing. For those who had the unfortunate luck to be close enough to see her eyes, they found the emerald green darkened to almost black, giving her eyes the appearance of belonging to a soulless denizen of dark and primitive corners of the nearby forest.

"Enemies of the good, lovers of evil and pain, you are not welcome here. Leave immediately or suffer the consequences." Lily's voice, deepened by the power and severity of her words, rang out in the dead silence of the battlefield.

Voldemort started it. He chuckled and soon his minions followed. That was a mistake.

The Dark Lord stepped out from the center of the action and stood only meters from Lily. He eyed her up and down as the laughter swelled.

"_Join me," he whispered into her mind. "You have power- I can see that- and you have anger too. I will teach you how to use it in ways Dumbledore dares not explore."_

"_I know the darkness," Lily responded evenly. "And I know love. I will never join you."_

It was during this silent exchange, this fateful face-off that James Potter returned to the scene. The fear that gripped him as he saw his beloved fiancée staring down what he was sure was her death was unimaginable. Black dots crept into his vision and he grabbed the doorframe of Honeydukes to steady himself. As he readied himself to save the woman he couldn't live without, Lily saved herself.

"_Omnipotens historiae descende meum et auxilio occidere hostos,"_ intoned Lily in a low voice. She closed her eyes and positioned her arms in an x, her wand gripped firmly in her right fist. Upon the last word of her enchantment she opened her eyes and in one swift motion, uncrossed her arms as a horizontal band of white mist sprang forth from her in an arc. As the mist encountered the death eaters they were pushed over and hit the ground with screams of agony. Aurors and Order members, as well as inhabitants of Hogsmeade, were left uninjured but seriously baffled. Lily collapsed in a heap.

Voldemort threw off the curse almost instantly and disapparated soon after. As his followers figured out how to counter the curse and regained their sanity, the Aurors also recovered their faculties and were able to arrest a few of their enemies. Unfortunately most escaped.

James feared the worst as he bounded across the street to the fallen form of Lily. Sirius arrived first and confirmed that James's worst fear had not come true that day- Lily was breathing! James slumped down to the ground and pulled Lily's limp form on his lap, cradling her as best he could as tears fell freely down his cheeks. She was alive and that was all that mattered.

"She will heal just fine James," Dumbledore repeated for the fifth time.

"I know," said James, his gaze never leaving the pale and still bride-to-be in the bed before him.

"Madame Pomfrey is taking excellent care of her," added Dumbledore with a heavy hint in his tone.

"I know," said James, irritation creeping into his voice. In only four hours he was going to have to return to the Auror Academy and he would be damned if he wasn't going to spend every second of those four hours just as he had spent the previous twenty-one, watching over Lily as he should have been doing during the battle.

Dumbledore sighed, realizing that the only way to remove the stubborn young man would be by force and he didn't want to resort to that. Therefore he summoned a chair and settled into it.

"I haven't yet thanked you for your part in the battle yesterday," began the Headmaster softly. "Minerva tells me that you saved the lives of nearly a dozen students by somehow smuggling them out of Honeydukes and into the castle undetected before it was breached. The odd part is, not one of those students can remember quite _how_ they managed to get to the castle."

"That certainly is odd," said James with the ghost of a smirk on his face.

"I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that a Marauder could find his way into the castle when he so chooses."

James didn't reply, only nodded his head slightly in the hope that it would disguise the playfulness and pride in his expression.

"The important thing is that he chooses to do so in a manner that is a service to the school," said Dumbledore with his customary vagueness and twinkling eyes.

"I'm sure that the Marauders, whoever those fine chaps may be, always used their superior knowledge to be of service to Hogwarts, at least from their point of view," James responded.

Albus chuckled. "Yes, I suppose so, however, I am relieved that many more students of such _superior knowledge_ were not created in the last twenty-four hours. As Headmaster I probably would have had to thoroughly investigate and close the passage by which the students could travel off of the grounds unnoticed."

"That would have been a shame," agreed James. "It is a good thing that the Marauders paid attention in Charms class when spells they considered to be potentially useful, such as _Oblivate_, just as an example, were discussed."

"Yes indeed," mused Dumbledore. "Well I must be off now; my meeting with the French Minister of Magic was cut very short yesterday when I finally received word of the happenings at Hogsmeade and I still hope to impress upon him the urgency of our situation."

"Good luck," said James simply as he returned his full attention to Lily.

At the last possible minute, Sirius arrived in the Hospital Wing of Hogwarts and put his hand on James's shoulder.

"Did you bring it?" James asked him, soaking up the image of Lily for just a moment longer.

"Yes, and Moony and Wormtail agreed with you; this is the right thing to do," Sirius answered as he pulled the Marauders' Map out of his pocket. "Over the Floo Moony even told me how to add a charm to it so that when it falls into the right hands they will know what to do."

"Excellent. Where shall we hide it?" asked James as he swiftly turned from Lily and stood up. He walked out of the Hospital Wing without looking back and dashed off for his final adventure as a Marauder. Taking those kids through the passage from Honeydukes to Hogwarts had impressed upon his the need for the secrets of Hogwarts to fall into new hands, good hands that would help people. It was selfish to continue to hold onto the map, and as difficult as it was for them to part with it, the Marauders all realized that they were adults now and the map didn't truly belong to them anymore.

"Lily," called Dumbledore sternly as he woke the girl from her slumber.

Slowly Lily's eyelids fluttered, but they were so heavy…

One spell later and Lily was wide awake, and, as she discovered as she tried to sit up in bed, incredibly sore.

Albus watched her flinch and heard her low moan but his face showed no sign of sympathy. "Lily. What you did yesterday was rash; it was a rookie mistake! You know better than to unleash your fury like that! All of your hard work, all of your training, for nothing. You know better; I taught you better than that. That spell was not ready and you knew that. How dare you test it out before Alastor and I told you to do so?"

Lily closed her eyes and counted to ten, breathing slowly and deeply. Then, despite the pain, she sat up in bed because she couldn't stand for Albus to be looking down at her like that anymore.

"You weren't there," began Lily accusingly. "You can't know what it was like. People were dying and Voldemort was giving a second wind to all of the Death Eaters. It wasn't going to stop; they were winning! My friends were out there! I had to do something and that was the only thing I could think of that would make a difference, and it did! **I** **stopped the fighting**. **I stopped it****!** Think about how many lives were saved."

"Yes, but you may have forfeited your own and what good does that do anyone," spat Dumbledore as he stood up and paced the room. Lily had only seen him that angry once before, but she was older now and not as scared as she was then. "Lord Voldemort has known who you are, but now he knows what you can really do, and he will be coming for you. What he craves most is power and what you showed him yesterday was a deep and very dark power. He will want you as a weapon in his army or he will want you dead."

"We always knew he would come after me sooner or later; that wasn't to be avoided."

"But you have thrust yourself into the limelight now! I don't know how or when, but I am sure that he will try to find you. I think it would be best if you left the country for a while. Go back to the Institute and maybe you can learn some patience and sound judgment."

"I cannot be dismissed like a child Albus!" shouted Lily as she sprang from the bed that had been assembled just for her in Madame Pomfrey's office. "I will never be Lord Voldemort's _tool_, but I am not yours either to be commanded and wielded as you wish! I stand by my decision yesterday and I will not abandon my country and my friends right now. I will accept the consequences of my action and with or without your assistance I will protect myself and those whom I love by any means necessary."

Albus sighed as he gazed upon the headstrong young women he had mentored for almost a decade. "Of course I will help you," he said tiredly as he removed his spectacles and rubbed the bridge of his crooked nose. "I already have alerted my spies to be listening for any information about you. The Order will do its best to keep you safe. This conversation is not over, but you should get some more rest; you overexerted your body."

And with that, Dumbledore reversed the spell on Lily. She stumbled back into bed and he charmed the blankets to cover her once more. Albus sighed once again. The Headmaster loved all of his students, but once in a while a special one like Lily came stumbling into his life and he grew to care more for her than he could fathom. He supposed that what he felt must be a mixture of how parents feel when a child grows beyond them or when that child does something dangerous, something that they were forbidden to do for their own good. Lily was a wondrous creature and he loved her for her ability to study and bend dark magic to her will, as he was not able. But as he gazed at her charred fingertips, he wondered how long her goodness could survive against the temptation for more.

"Evans!" barked Moody the second she set foot in the Order Headquarters for a meeting the following evening.

"Oh Alastor, not you too," she groaned as she rubbed the side of her face tiredly.

"What in Merlin's name were you thinking testing out that spell in front of Volde-bloody-mort? Are you trying to get yourself killed?" he blared.

"I didn't know what else to do! We had basically finished the incantation; it was time to test it anyway!" she shouted back defensively.

"But what if one of the Death Eaters overheard you and can now use that against us? If it falls into their hands we are screwed and it would be all your fault! And it obviously wasn't ready because it didn't go according to plan now did it?" he sneered.

Then he grabbed her hand and jerked it up towards he face to study it as if he were a jeweler and he was examining a fine gem. Lily attempted to yank her hand from his grasp, but he had caught her by surprise and he had a firm grip.

"You let the dark magic take you," he said with disgust as he dropped her hand as if it were filthy.

"Those who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones," she mumbled ashamed.

Moody's mangled face relaxed its scowl just slightly. He put a heavy hand on Lily's shoulder and as she gazed into his face with a hurt expression he sighed.

"I sometimes forget that you're just a kid," he muttered as a way of an apology. "How are you feeling?"

"Empty and hungry," she said meaningfully as other members began drifting into the room.

"The first few days are the worst," he confided in her.

"I know; I've been here before," she said ruefully.

"Let me know if you need anything."

Lily nodded, but they both knew her pride was too badly damaged for her to stoop any further to ask for any help. Dark magic was a seductive and slick beast, one with which Lily had grappled once before, but as Dumbledore had warned her, it only got harder each time. Once a witch or wizard has tasted dark magic, especially of the strength with which Lily just had, it was difficult to resist going in deeper. It was like a drug; you knew that it would be harder to resist after each time you succumb, but trying it again was so alluring because the high was just so _good_…

"So are we ever going to talk about what happened in Hogsmeade last week?" James asked abruptly. They were alone having a late dinner in a small dining room in the Potter manor the Friday night following the attack and Lily had been chatting to him all about her week for over an hour but still hadn't mentioned what he was actually dying to know.

Lily frowned and stiffened, slightly leaning away from her love. "What about it?"

"How about the end?" said James with irritation creeping into his voice. After she owled him to let him know she was ok, he responded asking about the spell she had used but his question had gone unanswered, ignored in fact, in her reply.

Lily turned her focus onto the dessert in front of her, debating what to tell him.

"Hey," he said sharply, causing her to look up at him again. "No secrets, remember?"

Lily sighed. "You're right. I suppose I can't avoid telling you now. That was the secret project I was working on with Moody and Dumbledore that I couldn't tell you about when I first told you about the Order. We were working on an incantation that I first read about while at the Institute. It was never completed and much of the work was lost, but a professor of mine, you've heard his name before, Livedero, encouraged me to research it and try to finish it myself. I told Dumbledore of it and he thought it would be a great weapon for our side… and Moody, well, did you ever wonder why Moody hates the Dark Arts with such a passion?"

James shook his head no.

"You can't breathe a word of this to anyone, but Moody was caught up in some dark magic when he was young, not even out of Hogwarts. Dumbledore found out and helped him to straighten out; it took months but eventually he put dark magic behind him for good. Since that day he has devoted his life to fighting the dark arts. So while he wasn't willing, and really can't do dark magic again, he knows quite a bit about it and was helping me."

James's forehead creased with confusion. "I don't get it… what's so hard about stopping using dark magic?"

Lily smiled at him sweetly, and said, "You're so… _good_ James. I'm glad you don't get it, but I will try to explain it to you." Then she closed her eyes and a different smile came over her face, one of wistful longing, and with it came a deep sigh. Her eyes opened and James could see a kind of frantic energy behind her expression and a strong passion was infused in her words. "It's like a drug, a wonderful high… You feel alive and untouchable, perfect and… and powerful, like nothing can stop you. You're on top of the whole world, the best of the best."

Lily's longing manner was replaced by a hard tone as she talked about what came after the high. "But then it ends and you're left with charred fingertips, at least the first few times I'm told, and a horrible insatiable craving…" She looked at her now healed fingers and sighed. "Those few days afterwards are the worst. The skin heals and your body heals, but the soul… your soul wants the high back, wants it so badly… it's like nothing else matters. Thinking of you helped me get through these last few days. So many times I wanted to succumb… to explore the depths of the darkness and see what there was to see, seize the power that was waiting there for me… but I knew you would be disappointed in me, you would look at me differently, kind of like you are now."

James was caught off guard, as he often was when Lily gave him pieces of the aspects of her life he didn't share and couldn't truly understand. "I- er… um…"

"Do you still love me, now that you know I've used dark magic?" she asked him sharply, though her knew her voice was a product of fear more so than anger or resentment.

"Of course," he replied as he reached for her hand. "You are still you and I am proud of you."

"Thank you," said Lily quietly, though James sensed there was more to the story. There was something about her that said guilt to him…

"What is it?"

"Hogsmeade wasn't the first time I've tasted the dark arts, it was just the most serious."

"Ok," said James simply without missing a beat.

"Ok?" questioned Lily hesitantly. She didn't expect James, someone who was so noble, so upstanding, and so good, to accept her so easily.

"Ok," he repeated steadily as he smiled at her. "You are still the woman I fell in love with, still the woman I love more than anything else. The dark magic hasn't changed you and I think that makes me love you more. You have good intentions Lily, you're working for the right side for the right reasons and that counts for something."

"Thanks," said Lily genuinely.

"Anytime love. Thank you for telling me the truth."

"It was difficult," admitted Lily. "But worth it."

"Good, now Sirius has gone to see Marlene and the baby, but he wanted me to tell you that today's lesson plan of yours was brutal…"

"Did he now?" Lily laughed and the conversation returned to lighter subjects.

**Author's Note: Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Some questions for you to answer in a review if you so choose **

**What did you think of the battle at Hogsmeade?**

**What did you think of the Maruaders giving up the Map finally?**

**Opinion on Moody, Lily, Dumbledore and the dark arts and their project?**

**What do you think of James accepting Lily's dark habits so easily?**

**The Wedding chapter is next! Get excited! **

**Until the next time, **

**-AAA**


	59. A Wedding Day to Remember

Disclaimer: I don't own any Harry Potter or Harry Potter related copyrights. I retain all rights to any original characters, settings, or ideas.

"Stop staring at it," hissed Vicky as she sat painting her fingernails not far from Lily.

"But Vicky, you're getting married!" said Lily gleefully.

"I am not getting married!" Vicky harshly interrupted. "How many times do I have to tell you that it is a _promise_ ring, not an **engagement** ring?"

Lily continued as if she hadn't heard. It made her feel better about her own early engagement when the biggest wedding detractor of all time was on that path herself. "And that ring is just so-"

"Unusual," Marlene interjected, tired of wedding talk. Between the announcement of Vicky and Remus's promise ring thing (cough cough engagement) less than a week ago and Lily's wedding later that day, she had had enough. And the knowing smile on Alice's face was probably going to kill her; they all knew it was only a matter of time before Frank proposed, but really did she have to be so _smug_ about it?

"Yes, but that's why I like it," said Vicky snippily. She was trying to be on her best behavior for Lily, but Marlene just always seemed to rub her the wrong way.

Kindly Alice turned conversation to something else, and Vicky took a moment to look at her ring. Every time she glanced at it a little flame tickled the sides of her stomach and filled her with warmth. It was beautiful, and unusual certainly. As she had heard Marlene comment to Alice behind her back, _"Who wants an engagement ring with a black stone in it?"_ Well Vicky did. She had once looked at Remus and longingly wished that she was a classic beauty with normal interests, but now she knew better. She was unusual, but that suited Remus, just as her simple gold band with a small princess cut black onyx in the center suited her. She wasn't quite yet sure that marriage suited her, but luckily Remus was willing to wait.

A few hours later, all of their hair had been teased and carefully arranged and their make-up applied. All that remained was to put on the dresses. The bridesmaids separated to different bedrooms and bathrooms in Alice's childhood home and put on the dresses that defied tradition and somehow did not look horrendous on all of them. When they returned to the master bedroom, they expected to see their friend looking gorgeous as only brides can, but the adjoining bathroom door was still closed.

"Lily?" asked Alice hesitantly as she knocked on the door. "Do you need help?"

"No, I'll be out in a moment," she promised.

Lily's friends exchanged confused looks but didn't say anything else. Within a minute the door had opened and Lily stepped out looking like a bride from a storybook. The satin material of the a-line silhouette caressed her curves without looking too tight, and the sweetheart neckline accentuated her bosom wonderfully. The lace that met the satin and decorated her upper chest and arms was so delicate it seemed that it would burst with a sneeze or even a summer breeze. The true wonder of the dress lay in the beadwork and crystals that decorated the bodice and traveled down the skirt and throughout the two meter train. It had taken three seamstresses over a dozen hours to create the intricate swirls, flowers, and leaves.

"Lily, you're a dream!" gushed Alice as she sniffled.

Marlene's sour expression softened and she grinned; Lily's glow was contagious. "You're getting married," she whispered.

Lily grinned and nodded as her two Hogwarts friends rushed toward her and surrounded her in a careful hug. Vicky stayed where she was by the door, sensing that something was amiss. She might not have known Lily for as long as Alice or Marlene, but she and Lily had been through many experiences that had bonded them on a much deeper level, surviving the prison cell in the Malfoy's basement for a start. As such, she could read Lily's microexpressions better than either Alice or Marlene.

"Lily," began Vicky with a false hesitancy that was meant only to fool Alice and Marlene. "Did you realize that you're missing an earring?"

The three girls across the room gasped in synchrony and only Vicky noticed that Lily overplayed it a bit because she wasn't truly surprised.

"Oh no!" whined Lily as she put her fingers on both earlobes. "Those were a wedding present from James! I just have to find them…"

"We'll help you look of course," said Alice soothingly.

"But they could be anywhere! I had both of them on this morning when I woke up I'm sure…" said Lily "But we've been all over the place since then!"

"We'll just have to separate and look in different places. Marlene, why don't you check the hair salon? Alice, how about you check that restaurant where we ate brunch? I'll check the downstairs here and Lily can take the upstairs," suggested Vicky.

"That sounds great," said Lily, seeming relieved before Alice or Marlene could change the plan.

"Ok, we'll be back soon. Don't fret Lily, we'll find your earring!" said Alice with a confident smile.

As soon as Marlene and Alice had disapparated, Vicky approached Lily and said knowingly, "Now where is the earring really?"

"On the bathroom counter," said Lily guiltily.

"And why have I sent Alice and Marlene on a wild hippogriff chase?"

"Because this is not what I wanted!" sobbed Lily as she hugged Vicky tightly.

"Erm… what? Getting married?" asked Vicky, confused. That was not what she expected.

"No!" yelled Lily fiercely. "I want to get married, but just not like this! I hate this dress and I wanted my hair down, but Mrs. Potter said that that wouldn't be appropriate! This necklace is heavy and clunky and old and I don't like it, but it's tradition! And Mrs. Potter reviewed the guest list with me last night and I don't know half the people there! And Mr. Potter and James said it was too dangerous for me to invite any of my muggle friends or family except my dad and my sisters! And do you know that a bride doesn't even walk down the aisle with her dad in wizarding weddings? That's what I dreamed of since Violet's wedding! Why is this all such a mess?"

"There, there," said Vicky awkwardly as she patted Lily on the back. "As I've been telling you all along, it's the marriage that matters, not the wedding. You're marrying the man you love and all you have to do is get through this day and then you have a lovely honeymoon to look forward to! Just keep thinking about what you get to do tonight for the first time…" Vicky smirked and Lily stopped crying.

"I suppose," she sniffled. "But I wanted to have the wedding day of my dreams, not just the wedding _night_…"

"Well buck up because that's not going to happen,' said Vicky in a no-nonsense way. "You'll have a good day because you're getting married and it will be fine, but you have to look for the little things to make you happy. At least there won't be those awful lilies everywhere! You have to remember that you did get your way on some things. Also think of it this way, the Potters all had to make a major sacrifice for you to marry James. It may not be important to you, but their blood status was important to them and after today it will be changed forever."

"You're right, I guess I can make some sacrifices," sighed Lily.

"Good! Now fix your make-up and find your earring because your friends will be back in a moment."

"Thanks Vicky," said Lily quietly. "Alice and Marlene just…"

"Wouldn't understand," finished Vicky. "I know."

"So everyone knows the plan?" growled Moody as he addressed the four girls he decided to personally supervise.

"Yes Alastor," sighed Lily, the excitement of her wedding ceremony being only a few minutes away making her frustrated at the delay. She just wanted to get to the Potter manor and get married already!

Acting as if he didn't hear her, Moody reviewed the plan again. "So I'm going to apparate to the gate of the Potter mansion first where three aurors are waiting. You three will all apparate at the same time to the same place exactly three minutes after I do. Five minutes after that if none of us has returned, you can apparate too Evans. You'll all get in the carriage right inside the gate, which will take you directly to the house. You are not to stop under any circumstances."

"Yes, we get it," snapped Lily. "The ceremony starts in fifteen minutes so we better get going!"

"Alright," growled Moody, though it looked like he wanted to chuckle. "Remember, wands out and constant vigilance!"

Lily and Alice groaned as Moody disapparated. Marlene and Vicky were lucky enough to not have heard that phrase eight million times.

Three minutes to the dot and with no sign of Moody, Lily ordered her friends to leave her. Four minutes later Lily was sick of waiting so she apparated. When she arrived outside of the familiar gate, everything seemed to be in perfect order. Her friends were calmly standing near the carriage on the other side of the gate and Moody and his aurors were standing, wands at the ready, in each compass direction at the perimeter of the circle she had been instructed to apparate within; everything was at it should have been, except…

It was too quiet. No one had noticed her arrival. Then suddenly she felt a presence behind her.

"Well Lillian, it has been a while, but time has been kind to you," drawled a distantly familiar voice.

"Richard!" gasped Lily as she whirled around her wand in her hand as Moody had instructed.

"Now that will not be necessary," said Richard as if he were talking to a small child. He grabbed the wand from her hand and summarily snapped it in half, tossing it to the ground as if it were any ordinary stick.

"You should know that I don't need a wand," growled Lily as she cast a spell that was meant to stun him.

Richard chuckled cruelly, and Lily wondered how she had ever felt happy with him. "Now, now, Lillian, no need to be so feisty! You are not the only one who has learned some things since we last met. Please take a moment to appreciate my remarkable entirely protective sphere. No one can see or hear what goes on inside, it nulls all magic performed inside, it cannot be broken by anyone except the one who created it, and whoever is inside of it is imprisoned until the creator decides to release him or _her_."

Lily was furious, but she tried to contain her rage because she knew it would only please him to see it. She clapped with a sarcastic dullness. "Very good Mr. Gills. Now when are you planning on letting me go? When I'm late for my wedding?"

"Poor silly, sad little Lillian. I am afraid you have a more pressing date to attend to and will not be able to make it to your sham of a ceremony this evening. I am to escort you to see the Dark Lord. He has very much wanted to speak with you, since you pulled off that little stunt a few weeks ago. I have been told that it was very impressive, and how shall I say it… dark?" he smirked. "After all that holier-than-thou talk of doing what is right and good, I see that it turns out that you are no different from the rest of us. Congratulations on delving into your birthright."

"I'm not like you!" shouted Lily. "I haven't gone dark and I won't! Ever! And I am not going anywhere with you!"

Ignoring her, which only served to make her angrier, Richard examined his immaculately clean nails, and then said, "Oh it appears that your associates have realized that you are now late."

Lily looked up and saw the worry in her friends' faces and the tense stance of the aurors. Finally Moody disapparated, and Lily assumed he went back to Alice's to check on her. Moody returned looking angry, but Lily saw the underlying fear. Lily couldn't hear what he said but Marlene and Vicky disapparated and Alice got in the carriage towards Potter manor. Moody stayed put, but the other aurors spread out, clearly looking for her or any suspicious activity.

"Why are you doing this?" snapped Lily, her emotions getting the better of her.

"Tsk, tsk," said Richard as he shook his head as if saddened. "Clarice really could not teach you any manners could she? Now be patient and let us see how this charade unfolds. The Dark Lord asked that I bring you to him immediately, but I just cannot help myself. I simply must see the look on James Potter's face when I whisk away his bride."

"You wouldn't dare," said Lily shaking with rage.

Richard chuckled again. "Just watch."

Little sparks of magic were popping off of Lily's skin and disappearing into the air instead of dancing as she had expected. Now sure that she would not be able to perform magic, Lily physically launched herself at her former boyfriend. Despite Lily's physical fighting abilities, Richard easily got the better of her due to the cumbersome restrictions of her dress.

Richard sighed as he pressed Lily's face further into the dirt road and increased the weight on her wrists, which he had pinned behind her back. "Now just look at what you've done; you have gone and dirtied your dress! And oh dear," he said without the sympathy that should have been afforded to the sound of bone breaking and a woman screaming. "It seems you have gone and broken your wrist too. But cheer up love, here comes your beloved."

Lily was barely afforded enough room to move her head and neck so that she could see James running down the drive toward the gate with Sirius, Remus, Peter, and Alice not far behind. Beyond them Lily could just see the frenzy of activity among the other wedding guests. There was no sign of her father or sisters. Just as James reached the gate, Marlene and Vicky apparated and both shook their heads sadly. James looked around wildly and tears dripped down Lily's face and onto the ground.

"Ah, I think that is our cue. Now be a good little girl and behave," Richard instructed. He heaved her up from the ground and pinned her up against his body. He placed a firm grip on her broken wrist as he kept it pinned behind her back and used his other hand to press a small dagger up to her throat. Lily didn't know if it was for dramatic effect or to actually keep her in line.

Then all of a sudden Lily could hear everything. There were angry shouts, screams of fear, and calls of reason. And then silence again. Lily locked eyes with James and the tears streamed down her face now. "I'm sorry," she mouthed to him, because her voice was lost. Lily had never seen James look so serious.

"Well Mr. Potter, I regret to inform you that the Dark Lord has requested the presence of Miss Evans this evening and so she will be unavailable to bind herself to you. So sorry for the inconvenience," Richard said as he chuckled darkly. "Do not expect her to return... though if the Dark Lord feels merciful, he might send you some pieces. Any request for your favorite? Her delightful ass perhaps? That always was my personal favorite…"

Richard released Lily's wrist and used his wand to wave away all of the spells that were coming his way. "Ta ta!" and with that he and Lily were gone.

James collapsed in despair.

Marlene screamed.

Moody cursed.

Alice cried.

Vicky was numb.

Sirius shouted meaningless words.

Remus stared.

Peter clutched Beth protectively.

Anita Baker scribbled furiously.

The newly arrived crowd murmured. Some in shock others in hidden glee.

"What do we do now?" asked Mr. Potter as he wheeled to the front of the crowd. Years of training had taught him to push feelings aside and that was certainly coming in handy today. "Albus?"

"I do not know," said Dumbledore sadly and quietly.

James looked up to his revered former headmaster and stared. "You don't know? How could you not bloody know? He's going to kill Lily and you don't know?"

"Prongs," said Sirius quietly in an attempt to calm his best mate as he crouched down and put a supporting hand on James's shoulder.

James shrugged off his best mate's help, stood up, and walked to stand in front of Dumbledore.

"You're Dumbledore! You know everything! Now tell me how to save Lily!" James demanded.

"James," said Dumbledore sagely and evenly. "We will all do the best we can. Right now we must regroup and examine the situation…"

"I don't want to bloody examine the bloody situation!" James began what was sure to be an impressive tirade, had Vicky not stunned him.

Sirius whirled on Vicky and began shouting at her. She didn't listen and when he had finished she simply said, "It had to be done. He wasn't going to accomplish anything in that state and no one else was going to get anything done either. We'll rouse him in a bit when we have a plan."

"That makes sense," said Sirius grudgingly.

Amelia Bones strode up and amplified her voice, "All Magical Law Enforcement personnel report to your respective offices immediately. All Department heads meet in my office in five minutes." As her employees scrambled to do her bidding, Bones ended the charm on her voice and approached her old friend Christopher Potter. "I'd like for you to join me in my office as well Christopher if you are up to it. I'm sure your point of view would be enlightening."

Christopher nodded and after Amelia had walked away he called Timothy Striker, who had agreed to leave the Auror Academy for a record third time in one year to attend the wedding of the son of his closest friend.

Before Christopher could even say a thing, Striker told him, "I will secure your home and watch over your family. I will organize the auror trainees and make them useful. Let me know if there is anything else I can do to help."

Christopher nodded and Striker marched off, shouting orders as he went.

"Sirius," Christopher called next. Sirius immediately appeared at his surrogate father's side. "Watch over James for me."

"Yes sir."

"Don't let him leave the house until I return. This will not be an easy task; have Peter help you. Remus is to look after Mrs. Potter; please let your friends know what they are to do and help Director Striker with anything else he may need. Can you do this?"

"Yes sir," said Sirius confidently, though he felt anything but.

"I have faith in you. I will be back." With that Christopher took the portkey handed to him by Amelia Bones. In his weakened state he was unable to apparate.

"Why did this happen?" Sirius asked no one in particular. With a heavy heart he trudged toward his friends, levitating James to follow him along the way.

Lily groaned as she regained consciousness. Literally every part of her hurt. The parts that weren't scraped and crusted in blood were severely bruised or burned. She tried to take stock of her surroundings and assess her condition as she had been taught at the Institute, but the effort was too great. She plunged back into darkness.

James groaned as he regained consciousness. His head hurt and his heart felt heavy, though he did not yet know why. He opened his eyes and saw his room looking just as it had when he woke up that morning. Yet, why did things seem so gloomy and dark? Oh! This morning! The day of his wedding! James sat up in bed very quickly. Had his nightmare come true? Had he slept through his wedding? Then the memories came crashing back to him. It was worse than any nightmare he could have conjured. Oh Lily… James sprang out of bed and reached into his pocket, looking for his wand, but it wasn't there. It wasn't on his nightstand either. Frantically James began tearing his bedroom apart. How was he supposed to take on Voldemort and rescue Lily without his wand?

Alerted by the sounds of furniture being tossed around, Sirius gingerly stepped into the room.

"You aren't going to find it," he told James matter-of-factly. "Your mother took your wand to keep you from doing something stupid."

"But Lily!" was all James could manage as his mind clouded with anger and fear.

"I know," said Sirius gruffly. "Dumbledore has gathered the Order, and Bones has gathered the Law Enforcement people, and everyone is working on this. We'll find her."

"What time is it?" James demanded to know.

"Half past four in the morning," Sirius answered dully.

"She could be dead by now! She's been missing for over twelve hours!"

"I know."

James sat back down on his bed. "She's my whole life Padfoot. I don't know what I would do without her."

"We'll save her in time; we just have to," Sirius answered, hope evident in his voice. "She's strong."

"I don't know if anyone is strong enough for that," mumbled James.

"Well if anyone is, it's your little genius," was Sirius's bad attempt at a joke. Things were definitely bad when even Sirius couldn't crack a joke. James stared dully at the floor, and Sirius mumbled something about checking on Mrs. Potter.

Sometime later James fell into a haunted slumber.

Days passed and rumors abounded, but they all proved to be groundless. Slowly but surely Amelia Bones cut resources off of the case. James and Christopher shouted angrily at her, but they knew she was right; Lily Evans was not the only project that the Ministry had on its plate right now. She was not the only missing person and she was certainly not their only concern.

Dumbledore and the Order members persevered long after the Ministry had halted. Lily was an integral part of their ranks and so they had more at stake in seeing her safely returned from the hellhole that was Voldemort's grasp.

All the concrete information that Order could gather was that Lily was Voldemort's top hostage at the time and so she was being held in his personal residence. Knowledge of her whereabouts was top secret and the upper echelon was certainly not talking. In other words, they had no idea where she was or even how to find her.

The days bled into a week and then two. Christopher Potter had taken a turn for the worse and was now constantly confined to his sickbed. Marilyn Potter had also taken to bed, haunted by the disagreements she and Lily had had in the weeks and months leading up to the wedding. Sirius remained living with Marlene and focused on helping her take care of her daughter, though they both checked up on James daily.

Vicky returned to the Institute, but wrote letters multiple times a day with suggestions and requests for updates. Remus temporarily moved back to England and into the Potter Manor in an effort to hold the pieces together. He was assisted by James's aunt and uncle, who also moved into the manor to try and coax their family members to eat, shower, and sleep on a somewhat normal basis.

James was a wreak as expected. He hardly ever showered and certainly didn't shave. He remained in the same clothes for days at a time and barely ate or slept. He filled most of his days pouring over a map of Britain and flying, his sole comfort.

The only thing that broke up the time was the arrival of a black owl one day. Sirius and Marlene were at the Potter's kitchen table, trying to coax James to eat something, while the house elves watched the baby, when suddenly the owl swooped in and deposited a Howler on James's lap.

Marlene and Sirius exchanged a worried glance and Sirius reached for the Howler, when suddenly it opened. Screams erupted from the scarlet parchment and echoed throughout the kitchen. House elves and humans alike covered their ears, except James. Even though, she was obviously in great pain, at least Lily was alive enough to scream. At this point in his despair, any connection to Lily was precious to him. Too soon, the screams were ended and an evil, cruel voice filled the ensuing silence.

"Know this Mr. James Potter: your little mudblood plaything is enduring pain beyond measure. She is strong, but I have broken stronger. She is not yet beyond all repair; if you would see her alive again bring the head of Albus Dumbledore to Malfoy Manor. Any deception will cause an excruciating and sudden end for your _beloved_."

The silence that followed was painful. The house elves scattered, leaving the three adults alone with their burdens.

"She's alive," whispered James.

"I'm taking this to Dumbledore," said Sirius angrily as he snatched the Howler off of the table. "Right now."

Before James could process what was happening, Sirius had left the room. Marlene stopped James before he could hinder Sirius. Unfortunately, try as he might, Dumbledore was not able to extract anything useful from the Howler. And as tempting as the idea was, not even James was crazy enough to think that killing Albus Dumbledore was a good idea.

Lily sighed bitterly but shallowly. As the days went by (how many she was not sure), she learned to cope with her situation a bit better. Luckily for her, Voldemort was a busy man and so her meetings with him did not occur daily. And furthermore, her tormenter liked his prey to be fresh for him to play with and so someone came in to heal her after she passed out from the pain each time. She never saw who it was and she assumed that was to be part of her torture; she hadn't seen or heard another human being (she didn't consider Voldemort to be human), since her imprisonment. She also hadn't seen the light of day in that long, which strangely, bothered her more. She wasn't exactly scared of the dark, but she certainly did not care for it one bit and now she was plunged into complete darkness for days at a time.

Her stomach growled and not for the first time. Along with the lack of sunshine, Lily had been deprived of all food. She assumed that her healer was giving her a nutrition potion, because she hadn't yet died, but it still left her stomach painfully empty. Once in a while water appeared near her, but not nearly enough to quench her thirst. The first day or so she had refused to drink because it was given to her in a shallow bowl and because her hands were constantly bound to prevent her from doing wandless magic, she had to lap the water up like a dog. Although she had the awful feeling that someone was watching her and laughing as she did it and drinking like an animal was terribly slow and frustrating, she couldn't resist for long.

She tried to remember what she had been taught in her Life and Survival class, but her days at the Institute seemed so far away now and so silly. She had given up the idea of escaping a while ago; it seemed hopeless. As soon as she had been able she crawled along her cell trying to find a potential weakness. All she learned was that it was a solid rock box, probably underground because it was completely dark and felt rather damp. It was approximately four meters by three meters in size and she didn't know for sure how tall it was; she knew for sure it was taller than her and it felt as if it continued on for a long ways above her head. She couldn't find any sort of door or even a crack in the rock and there were no signs to point to where the cell might be located.

All she could focus on now was keeping herself alive and as mentally stable as possible. She hadn't yet despaired of James or Dumbledore coming to rescue her. To protect her sanity Lily constructed an alternate reality that she tried to escape to when conscious. It didn't always work, but sometimes was better than no times.

Lily sighed again and closed her eyes, though it didn't matter since it was no darker with her eyelids covering her eyes. She breathed deeply and evenly and concentrated on entering the flowery forest where James waited for her in a cute cottage with a roaring fire in the fireplace and a big soft bed with a beautiful and thick quilt. Birds chirped as she skipped down the path, leaves caressing her face as she went. A cute rabbit peeked at her from beyond a bush, and then suddenly she was knocked to the ground by a big mangy mutt! Oh Sirius…

Meanwhile Severus Snape sat brooding in the study of his childhood home. He had just learned from a drunken Rodolphus Lestrange that Lily Evans was being kept hostage in the Dark Lord's lair. He had told her to be careful! He just knew that _James Potter_ wasn't up to the task of protecting her… She was special and Potter just didn't… just could **not** understand that! If she had only been more understanding of the path he had chosen, none of this would have happened; he could have kept her safe and he could have made her happy just as he did all those years before she started dating that… imbecile. Snape smiled a little as the word entered his thoughts.

Then his smile soured as he imagined the pain that imbecile was going through. As Lestrange had described it, Lily had been snatched right in right of Potter's eyes just minutes before their wedding. As hard as he tried to prevent the idea from seeping into his mind, it came anyway: how would he feel if it was him that Lily was stolen from just before their wedding? He couldn't deny that the idea of marrying Lily had occurred to him frequently throughout the past decade… If he were to marry someone, it would be her.

Bitterly he then noted that no one would be marrying Lily if she wasn't rescued soon. Lestrange didn't know what kind of condition Lily was in because neither he nor anyone else had seen her, but Snape knew it could not have been good. It was remarkable that she was alive at all really; Severus hoped that she was not leaking information about the Guardians to Voldemort because he and Richard had worked so incredibly hard to keep that knowledge out of the Dark Lord's hands. Why couldn't Potter just pull through and rescue her already? Then he wouldn't be faced with this kind of decision.

If he worked to free her, not that he was even sure he would be successful, she could go on and marry Potter and the Guardian secrets would safe and she would be alive and happy. Maybe not with him, but at least she would be happy. And if she were alive then there would always be the potential for her to be with him. But if he tried and failed… a slow and painful death would be sure to come to both of them.

If he did nothing and simply left it up to Potter and that fool Dumbledore then she would surely be tortured, maybe leak all of their secrets, and probably die in the very near future. Although he had been living without Lily's affection for quite some time, he still could not imagine living in a world in which she didn't exist as anything but a memory. How could it be that he would never see her again?

_His breath hitched in his throat as he saw the flash of auburn hair that so often preoccupied his conscious thoughts and followed him into his dreams. She was just standing there, watching the battle in front of her as if she had nothing better to do. Bile rose up in Snape's throat, burning him. She was a better duelist, a better fighter than that! How was he supposed to trust her to keep herself alive when he couldn't watch her if she was going to do stupid stuff like this? _

_Snape sighed. This wasn't the first… event he had attended in his cloak and mask but it certainly was the largest. If he would stop and pay attention to his own feelings for a moment then he would realize that he was overwhelmed too, but Severus learned from day one that independent thought was not tolerated and feelings only got one punished or killed. He had been locking his feelings away since he was a young child, but Lily had been the key to that lock; he __**felt**__ things around her. And now what he was feeling was fear._

Yes they had their differences. He had said and done some things that he now regretted, but so had she! He thought that when she went away to that school of hers his feelings for her would end: out of sight, out of mind. For a while they did diminish, but then he saw the engagement announcement of James and Lily in the paper and a mixture of jealousy, loathing, desire, resentment, and surprise flared up in him, and though he had tried Severus hadn't quite been able to quash it since then. All of the articles in the Prophet about the wedding certainly didn't help either. Like the small child he was never allowed to be, if Severus couldn't have the toy (Lily) then no one should have it (especially not his enemy).

_This wasn't fair! Here he was feeling protective and fearful like a boyfriend would, and yet he didn't get all of those quiet moments of looking into her eyes and feeling her warmth like he was sure a boyfriend would. Where in Merlin's name was that useless and idiotic oaf Potter anyway? Shouldn't he be here to knock some sense into Lily and get her out of harm's way? Sigh. It seemed like __**he**__ would have to get her out of there or watch her die in front of him. But he couldn't just tell her to get out of the way; long ago Dumbledore had instilled in him, as well as Lily, the idea that every experience could be turned into an opportunity for learning. _

_He loved the way he felt her body tense as he pressed the tip of his wand into her neck, but he loved the way she relaxed at the sound of his voice even more. He tried to suppress the thoughts of pressing his lips to her neck, but the scent of her overwhelmed him and flooded him with fantasies. His stride was even and his breathing was calm as he led her away; the only person who probably could have detected his inner turmoil was Lily, but luckily for him she was facing away from him. _

_As she told him she knew of his identity, hope fluttered like a butterfly in his chest. She still knew him, really knew him. But then he detected the undertones of disgust in her words, along with the echoes of past affection. Guilt drowned the butterflies as he told her what he wanted her to hear. More bitterness seeped into his words than he would have liked, but she didn't storm away so he thought things were going okay. Then all too soon, HE appeared and ruined the moment. Things went black and Lily was gone from his life once again. _

The despair Severus felt as he woke up in the alley in Hogsmeade alone, not knowing if Lily had lived or died at the hands of his master, for her knew that she would challenge him, washed over him again and his choice was made.

**Author's Note: **This was a big, and I am sure, shocking chapter and I don't think I should guide your reviews with questions this time. Please feel free to speak your mind, whether you hate me, you are angry with me, disappointed, sad… whatever! I am looking forward to hearing from each of you!

Until the next time,

-AAA


	60. The First Time but Not The Last

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Harry Potter or Harry Potter related copyrights, but I do own all original plot, characters, and dialogue. **

"I'm sorry," he whispered as the nearly unconscious girl in his arms shivered. It was one of the few times in his life that he had said the words and meant them. If he had thought about the matter in any depth he would have noticed that she was the only person other than his mother that he had ever been truly sorry for hurting or failing to protect.

He wished that he could place a warming charm on her, or even something that would just keep the rain from drenching her, but he wasn't sure what curses had been placed on her in the past weeks and was afraid of anything he might react badly and do would cause more harm. All he could do was hold her tighter to his body and try to cover her with his cloak as much as possible.

Severus Snape sighed as Lily's only response was a mumbled gurgling sound that turned into a pathetic cough. He wasn't even sure that she knew that it was he who had rescued her from the pit of hell she had gotten herself into by being so ridiculously brilliant, a force to be reckoned with and a bright spot in the grim reality of the wizarding world and especially his existence. That was fine with him. In fact, it was probably better that she not know. He hoped that she might not remember any of the details of her stay at his master's _home_. It was possible considering the state he had found her in when he went to release her. Severus had impersonated the healer who took care of her most severe injuries after a confrontation with Lord Voldemort. Therefore, she had not been healed yet. The damage was substantial and almost incredible. Severus vomited twice before he was able to collect himself enough to get the two of the safely out of the cell.

He shivered at the memory of finding Lily and glanced around at the tree-lined lane that once seemed so comforting but now in the dead of night felt like a never-ending avenue of sinister enemies and inevitable torment.

After what seemed like a lifetime, the unusual, unlikely pair finally reached the gates of Hogwarts. As gently as he could, Severus placed Lily on the muddy ground in front of the gates. His heart jumped in his chest as the love of his life, the only thing that was ever good in his life, groaned like a wounded kitten. For the first time Severus truly doubted the path he had chosen. Then he shuddered to shake out such thoughts out of his head; the time for choosing was over. Now was the time to live with the decisions he had made.

Hastily, Snape conjured a cloak to cover Lily and then cast the dark mark in the sky. He was sure that that would catch Dumbledore's attention. With one last look at the huddled mass of bones and muddy, bloody, wedding dress that was Lily, Severus briskly walked back the way he had come.

Knowing that the healer he had framed would be killed did not hinder Severus's actions. Collateral damage. It was the first time he had killed in Lily's defense but it would not be the last.

"Where is she?" James Potter bellowed as he burst into the lobby of St. Mungo's. Dumbledore, who had personally delivered the good news as soon as Lily was safely in the care of the best healers the hospital had to offer, was right behind him.

"This way," he said soothingly as he placed a calming hand on James's taut shoulder. "The healers are probably still working with her; I brought her here no more than ten minutes ago."

"I need to see her," said James as his voice cracked with emotion.

"And you will," stated Albus matter-of-factly. "She is safe now."

James felt as if he was walking through slug slime as he followed in the footsteps of his former headmaster. The fog of an alcohol induced sleep had not quite left him yet, but the overwhelming bliss of hearing the news that every one of his cells had ached for was clearing it away like the sun burns through a cloudy day.

He only got to see her for a moment before the healers shoved him out of the room so they could work, but that moment was enough. She was alive! As if in a dream, James walked back to the waiting room and there was Sirius, sitting on the edge of a seat, actually looking uncomfortable for once. He stood up as soon as he saw James, his question on his face but the words dying on his lips.

"She's alive," said James joyfully but tiredly. "The healers are with her now."

Sirius hugged James tightly. James then sank into one of the waiting room chairs and fell into the first restful sleep he had since the night before the night before his wedding.

James felt like he could have slept for a year and that Remus's voice was a very unwelcome invader in his dream world. But a certain word, a certain person's name, pierced his subconscious and he snapped back to reality.

"Lily's awake and she is asking for you," Remus said with an enormous grin on his face.

"How long have I been asleep?" he asked worriedly as he jumped out of his chair, the blanket that had been covering him sinking into a puddle around his feet. He rubbed his face and felt the rough stubble that came from a couple days without shaving. He looked to Remus with alarm.

Remus consulted his watch and replied, "About thirty-seven hours, give or take a few minutes, but don't worry Lily has only been awake for about three minutes."

"She's- she's awake? She's ok?" asked James as reality crashed around his shoulders like the familiar rush of putting on his invisibility cloak.

"Yeah mate, she's going to be just fine," said Remus with a chuckle.

James ran his hand through his mess of hair and took off down the hallway toward the best thing in his life. He was a bit disoriented and didn't quite remember where Lily's room was, but luckily was guided there by the symphony of his best friend's bark like chortle and the lilting laughter of his (still) fiancée. James stood in the doorway for a minute, just leaning against the doorframe and watching the scene in front of him.

Sirius was in a chair next to the bed, leaning back on two legs with his leather boots propped up on the edge of the bed near Lily's hips. He looked a little tired and his hair was a bit stringy, but otherwise seemed… good.

And Lily… well Lily looked like crap but James didn't see any of that. He didn't see the bruises, scabs, or the scars. He didn't see the crusted blood or layers of grime in her hair. He didn't see the loose baggy skin around her eyes or the dry or the cracked skin on her lips. All he saw was Lillian Evans-soon-to-be-Potter, the love of his life, smiling.

And then she noticed him. Her attention shifted from Sirius to James and her face truly lit up; at long last she was truly home safe and sound.

It was the first time Lily and James had to heal after the direct, personal, malicious, destructive, damage caused my Lord Voldemort but it wouldn't be the last.

"Ah, James, just who I wanted to see," said Albus calmly. He was leaving Lily's hospital room as James was attempting to enter.

"Oh, hello Albus," said James distractedly as he tried to skirt around the elderly man. Lily had convinced him to go back to his home to sleep in an actual bed and shower, but now he was desperate to get back to Lily.

"I know you probably would like to see Lily, but I'm afraid that she's sleeping right now. Perhaps we should go to the Tea Room; there is something I would like to discuss with you."

"Umm… sure," James replied reluctantly as he once again followed his former headmaster.

A few moments into their conversation and James was not reluctant any longer; he was incensed.

"You want to do what?" he bellowed, unafraid of raising his voice because Dumbledore had surrounded their table with a number of protective charms.

"Just temporarily," said Dumbledore calmly. He had expected such an outburst from the hot-tempered young man and was fully prepared to win this battle. "It is in Lily's best interests to leave the country for a while, both to recuperate far from the place of her torment and, to protect her from those who would like to recapture her."

"She would be safe at my house!" James almost literally cried.

Dumbledore surveyed James over his half moon spectacles for a long moment, unleashing the full non-magically manipulative power of his icy blue gaze. "It will only be for a few months," he continued at last. "Lily will be under the care of the best healers and psychiatrists the world has to offer. She will be allowed to resume her studies at the Institute to whatever degree she is able. I understand that she would like to attain a Healing degree. She will be among friends and trusted colleagues who are also very skilled warriors; she would have the full force of the greatest witches and wizards and the resources of the Institute behind her. That is no small matter."

James stared off into space. Dumbledore's plan made sense, far too much sense for James's comfort. Could he live without Lily for another few months?

Before James could say anything else, Dumbledore stated, "I know that it would cause you great pain to be separated from her for another lengthy period of time. However, you can be in contact with her and she will be happy and safe, not imprisoned. Her stay abroad would be mutually acceptable and she could be returned to England whenever she feels well enough to do so. Please, put Lily's best interests before your own."

"Of course I will," snapped James. "I always do."

"Then we are agreed?" concluded Dumbledore slickly. "Excellent. I have already spoken to Lily and now I will make the arrangements to have her transferred tonight."

"The morning is the absolute earliest time I will allow her to be taken away from me," said James stubbornly and with such ferocity that Dumbledore flinched for a split second.

"Tomorrow morning then," said Dumbledore as if he was indulging a small child.

"If you'll excuse me," said James politely, though all he wanted to do was storm away and crawl into Lily's arms to cry.

Dumbledore nodded and took a sip of his tea. James's tea sat untouched on the table.

James burst into Lily's room like a hurricane. "You're going away?" he asked though he and Lily both knew he knew the answer.

Remus sat at Lily's bedside holding her hand. "I'll be going with her," he stated as Lily nodded her head yes. "Well back to my apartment anyway. I'll be nearby. Vicky has already been informed of the developments and will be keeping a close eye on her."

Lily and James both heard the words, but neither listened. They just stared at each other. Finally Remus got up and left the room with a smile on his face. He was glad that Lily was safe, that James was returning to normal, that Lily and James loved each other with such a passion, and that he was going back to his apartment where he could see Vicky with some frequency.

James and Lily cuddled and talked until Lily's voice disappeared. Her throat was healing, but had undergone severe damage from all the screaming, among other things. After that James just talked. He talked about their past and he talked about their future. He never mentioned a syllable about their ruined wedding or any of the events that led up to her rescue, and she never indicated that she had a desire to know. Around the time that James started mentioning possible baby names for their seventh child, Lily fell asleep. James smiled and rested his chin on top of her head and was just about to drift off himself, when Lily began screaming and awoke with a start and copious tears. This was the first time that Lily woke up screaming from nightmares, but it certainly wouldn't be the last.

James wasn't much good at comforting her, because her terror was well out of his realm of knowledge. Luckily, the staff at St. Mungo's wasn't new to patients with night terrors, especially in recent months. Not many patients had been rescued from torture before irreversible damage was done, but a few had and the staff had learned from those experiences.

A team bustled into the room with efficiency and as they set about calming Lily, a Healer in training explained the process and procedures to James because she could see that James was thoroughly frightened by the thrashing and tormented soul in the hospital bed in front of him. It was then that James realized that going abroad truly was the best decision for Lily. He wouldn't be able to provide her with the proper level of care, and certainly when the summer ended and he returned to the Auror Academy as Lily had vigorously insisted only an hour prior, she would truly suffer from lack of the care she needed.

Somewhat naively James had ignored the knowledge that Lily would be scarred by her experiences. Of course he could see and understand the physical signs, but she had been smiling and laughing… then James remembered just how phenomenal of an actress Lily truly was and how much she constantly worked to protect him from the ugly parts of her life. These thoughts comforted James as he watched Lily being taken away from him again. He felt a sense of loss, but as Dumbledore had insinuated, it didn't feel the same as when Gills had held a knife to her throat and kidnapped her.

"Excuse me, Mr. Potter?" inquired a secretary.

"Yes?" he answered distractedly.

"What would you like to do with the clothing Miss Evans arrived in?"

"And what clothing would that be?" he asked confused.

The secretary looked repulsed but put a gloved hand into the bag she was holding and pulled out the tattered wedding gown that Lily had worn for far longer than the average bride. James vomited at the sight and stench of it.

"Please, destroy it," he gasped.

"Ok sir," said the middle-aged woman softly as she returned the remnants of the dress to its bag marked "biological hazardous materials". Not wanting to cause the young man and further harm she waved her wand to clean up the puddle of vomit and left to dispose of the bag.

It was the first time the new secretary had to face evidence of such great torture, but it would not be the last.

"I'm so glad to hear that Lily was moved out of the country," said Marlene as she bounced her baby to try and get her to burp.

"Yeah, Dumbledore thinks it was the best thing for her and he got James to agree somehow," grumbled Sirius as he leaned against the kitchen counter and folded his arms across his chest.

"You don't agree?" asked Marlene, more surprised by his stance than her baby's burp, normally a great feat.

"No I don't. You saw how miserable James was the whole time she was… gone and now as soon as he gets her back Dumbledore sends her away again? It's insane," he finished, nearly shouting at the end.

Soothed by the presence of the sweet smelling baby on her shoulder, Marlene didn't rise to Sirius's anger level as rapidly as she did in the past. "But the most important thing is that she has a safe place to heal. Remus will keep an eye on her and keep us all posted."

"She's fine!" Sirius protested. "A few days of care from the Potter's house elves and James and she would be back to normal."

Marlene sighed. "She's not fine. She may well have been laughing at your jokes like the old days, but did you actually talk to the healers?"

"Well no," admitted Sirius. "I mean she looked a bit banged up and they certainly spent a lot of time working on her when she first got there… but"

Marlene interrupted. "There is no but, the healers said she can't even walk and that some of her internal organs may have been damaged beyond repair, even by magic. She is going to need months of physical therapy, not to mention emotional and mental therapy… I mean what she must have gone through…"

Sirius shuddered involuntarily.

"We all want her to be just fine Sirius, but she isn't. And she isn't going to be fine for a long time. I miss her too, but I really think it is best for her to be away all of this… craziness for a while. She'll be back you know."

"But what if she doesn't ever want to come back? I don't know if I would."

"She'll be back," said Marlene confidently as her daughter began to squirm and whine.

"Here, let me take her," offered Sirius as Marlene's method of bouncing the infant up and down was only serving to cause her whine to evolve into a full cry.

Marlene sighed, irritated that Sirius was sometimes better at comforting her child than she was, but she handed over the child anyway.

Sirius adjusted the baby's blanket, wrapping her in a tight cocoon, and cuddled her tightly in his strong arms. As usual Marlene had to stifle back a giggle as she saw the sight of Sirius with a small pink baby covered in a fuzzy pink blanket snuggled up in the folds of his leather jacket, the baby's body not much bigger than his forearm.

"There, there, Gracie-loo," Sirius cooed. "Shhh shhh shhhhhhh, no need to fret."

"You're so good with her," said Marlene with admiration. No many times she watched it, it never ceased to amaze her. And then Grace smiled her first real smile while looking directly at Sirius, and Marlene's heart just melted. She felt something she hadn't felt in a very long time, not since she had first found out she was pregnant.

"You're a good dad to her," said Marlene before she could really think about it.

Sirius's head shot up and he looked at his former girlfriend, and now he was pretty sure just friend, with shock. I mean really, they had been living together for months, and she walked around like he wasn't a man. She flounced around in old sweatpants and t-shirts, didn't bother to put on make-up or do her hair, and didn't mind it if he saw her covered in baby vomit. Yet now, she was talking about him being a father to her baby…? What the hell did that mean?

Marlene's hand shot up to cover her mouth and she stammered to try and correct herself. "I mean uncle… like a really close uncle… good ol' Uncle Sirius! You know what I meant!"

Sirius had jostled Grace in his shock and as he cradled her back to complacency he asked, "No Marly, what **did** you mean?"

Sirius had had feelings of a sexual nature for Marlene for several weeks, but had resisted because he was pretty sure that she did not felt the same. Now, it almost sounded like maybe she did feel for him more than in just a friendly way, and he definitely couldn't let an opportunity like that to pass him by, not this time.

"I- well- I," stammered Marlene as Sirius walked toward her. She cursed the fact that he was having such an effect on her. She thought she was over him; things hadn't worked out in seventh year and then Christmas Eve was just closure. Him moving in was just a friendly thing to do… and yet she couldn't deny how much she enjoyed watching him walk about of the bathroom still damp with nothing but a towel around his waist… "Did you want it to mean something?" Marlene challenged, summoning a bit of her usual spark.

"You tell me," he said smoothly as he grinned that ridiculously self-assured smirk of his.

"I'm not going to play this game with you," she warned him though the smile on her face and the blush on her cheeks said otherwise.

"I think it's time to put Grace down for her nap," said Sirius with a smile as he left the kitchen. "Any maybe when I'm done with that, I'll put Grace's mom down for a nap too."

Marlene's knees went weak at the thought of it, and when Sirius returned a few moments later, she knew what her decision was and she didn't hesitate. Maybe Alice was right when she said that the two of them living together would only lead to sex and then to heartbreak… Marlene dismissed the thought and instead let Sirius lead her toward her bedroom with his fiery kisses.

It was the first time Sirius and Marlene shared a bed together in that flat, but it wouldn't be the last.

"Excuse me, do you know where I could find Frank Longbottom? He wasn't sitting at his cubicle," Alice asked the receptionist in the Auror's office politely.

The frazzled woman looked up from her mounds of paperwork and exasperatedly said, "I have enough trouble tracking down and notifying the families of the dead and maimed ones and now you want me to keep track of all the living ones too? Try the loo."

Cowed by the woman's aggressive statement, Alice meekly replied, "I'll just wait for him at his desk then."

The secretary didn't even dignify that with a response.

Alice sighed as she sat back down at Frank's immaculately organized desk. In just one more year she would have a desk of her own just like this one, though it would probably be covered with stacks of files, crumpled memos, and a week's worth of coffee cups among other things. Pushing away thoughts of the terrifyingly grueling exams required to graduate from the Auror Academy, Alice contented herself with absentmindedly spinning around in Frank's desk chair.

As Alice relaxed and reclined in the chair slightly, her outstretched foot caught the edge of a drawer of the desk that was filled to the brim with paperwork. As the drawer sprung open, the top layer of paperwork spilled out and onto the ground. Cursing under her breath, Alice quickly stopped her spinning and hurried to replace the papers before Frank saw the mess she had caused. Unfortunately for Alice, her cleaning abilities were impaired by the dizziness from spinning, and in trying to put the papers back, she only succeeded in pushing more over the shallow sides of the drawer.

Alice sighed and closed her eyes, gathering herself. Then she opened her eyes and saw that it was nonsensical to put the paperwork back laying down like it was; it would make much more sense to store it all on its edge. She tried it out and found that the drawer was wide enough and tall enough to be stored on its long side. So then she went about taking out the whole pile. It was only when she reached the bottom that she realized there might have been a reason that Frank chose to stack the papers in that way.

At the bottom of the drawer there was a small black velvet box. Quickly Alice realized that it was no where near her birthday, anniversary, or Valentine's day… so it could only mean one thing, couldn't it?

Alice's gasp in shock was nothing compared to Frank's when he returned to find Alice sitting on the floor of his cubicle surrounded by papers and holding a little black box in the palm of her hand.

Frank blanched and nervously tried to cover up the situation. "Aw well I see you found my hiding place for my mother's birthday present. Did you have a look to see what I got her?"

"Your mother's birthday present?" asked Alice with surprise and an awful amount of disappointment in her voice as she handed the box to her boyfriend. "No, no, I didn't open it."

"Ah. Good then. You know my mother could get a secret out of a skeleton and I wanted the gift to be a surprise."

"Oh, of course," said Alice quietly. "Ready for lunch then?"

"You look terribly glum all of a sudden," Frank observed audibly.

"Oh it's nothing," replied Alice with a weak smile.

"It doesn't look like nothing," said Frank seriously as he nervously played with the box in his hands.

"I'm fine, don't worry," said Alice, feeling foolish for thinking that the box contained a special something for her.

Frank sighed. "Well, this isn't the way I wanted this to go, but I suppose now is as good a time as any."

And then Frank got done on one knee and popped open the box, offering it's contents to the love of his life. "Alice, I love you more than life itself, will you please do me the honor of marrying me?"

Alice gasped as a couple of tears began to trickle down her face. "Of course! I love you too!"

Frank slid the ring on Alice's finger among cheers from his coworkers who had overheard the commotion and emerged from their cubicles to inspect the scene. He then gave her a kiss and enveloped her in a tight hug. "I really did have a better plan than proposing to you in the office," he whispered to her.

"This is just fine," she whispered back as she admired the addition to her left hand.

It was the first time that Alice looked at Frank's grandmother's engagement ring with sheer joy, but it wouldn't be the last.

"Hullo Prongs," said Remus cheerfully as James stepped out of his fireplace and into his small, but still cozy living room. "Lily isn't here yet, but she should be soon."

"How's she doing Moony?" James asked nervously. He hadn't been allowed to see Lily for almost two months and he was due to report back at the Auror Academy the next day for his third and final year of training. He had had to plead with Dumbledore for hours to arrange this one visit.

"She's… healing," responded Remus vaguely. "The time she is spending at the Institute is good for her I think. At her current rate, she thinks she will be able to finish her healing degree by the end of the year."

"I know," said James tiredly as he sat down on the sofa and rested his face in his palms. "Do you think she's working herself too hard?"

"When you see her, you'll know," promised Remus quietly.

James groaned in frustration. He absolutely hated that Remus saw Lily once a month and he was restricted to encoded letters. Dumbledore had actually confiscated his two-way mirrors so that they couldn't be stolen and used to find out where Lily was! As if he would ever let that mirror out of his sight if Lily were on the other end…

Then suddenly James sat up straight. He could hear Lily's laughter. It amazed him that after all she had been through she could still laugh. The therapist he was seeing said that her laughter was just a strategy she used to cover up or express her pain in a disguised way. James preferred to think that it meant that there was still some core part of her that was stronger than the pain, that refused to be defeated by it and mocked its attempt to destroy her.

Then he heard a feminine yelp followed by a muted thud and a loud hiss of pain.

"Remus!" shouted Vicky in a rare moment of panic.

As Remus and James approached the front door of the apartment building they heard a low male voice, chastising Lily by saying, "I told you to bring to let me bring your crutches just in case."

"I just tripped!" said Lily, clearly frustrated.

"Over what?" replied the man. "There wasn't anything in your path! Not even a crack in the sidewalk."

"My own two feet okay!"

"This is just your vanity showing through! You just didn't want to be on crutches in front of your beloved; now let me help you up."

"Lily, just let him help you, or let me help you," sighed Vicky.

"I can do it myself," protested Lily as she struggled.

"Let her do it herself," demanded James in a voice that caused both Vicky and the man, whose back was to James, to back away.

"James!" cried Lily joyfully. "You're early!"

"I couldn't wait to see you," he answered as he walked swiftly to Lily's side and the rest of the world melted away. "_Can _you get up by yourself?"

"I think so," she admitted.

"Ok then, you can grab my hand if you need it, but I think you can do it too."

Slowly but surely Lily stood up and only grasped James's outstretched hand when she felt as she was losing her balance and about to fall back down.

"See you are just fine," said James softly, willing both of them to believe it, but he could not ignore the way that Lily looked.

She seemed foreign to him, like a different version of herself. The bruises, swelling, cuts, and all other physical signs of her torture were magically removed, but everywhere he could see the remnants from the way she carried herself to the way she had changed her hair. Gone were the self-assured poise and her brilliant red locks and it their place was a hunched over stance that looked as if she just wanted to be invisible and dull mousy brown hair that was cut just long enough to touch the bottom of her chin. Gone were the figure-fitting clothes and beautiful accessories; simple and loosely fitting clothing that seemed to swallow Lily's shrunken body were in their place. And yet, she was still beautiful and as James wrapped his arms around her and felt her warm breath against his neck, he knew that she was still his, and that the Lily he fell in love with was still in there somewhere.

"Well," began Lily's male escort. "It looks like I am no longer needed. I'll be in the pub if anyone needs me."

"Thank you Bära," said Lily gratefully.

"Teddy?" asked James questioningly as well as angrily.

"I'll explain when we get inside," said Lily soothingly. And with that, James and Lily made their way to Remus's apartment while the other three headed off into town.

Before James could say anything else, Lily explained, "The person that was Teddy is nothing like the person you just saw. He is Bära, meaning bear in Swedish, now. He is kind and protective without being arrogant, flirtatious, or mean about it. Vicky says that as soon as he heard that I was… abducted, he started to change. He became quiet and contemplative. My other friend Francesco thinks it was because he was fundamentally shocked that someone he held in such high esteem, thinking I was equivalent, or at least almost, to his own abilities, could be captured. I mean everyone was shocked, but I think Bära was affected the most.

"When I returned, he was the first one to visit me in the medical wing, skipping class, which was unheard of for him, to do so. We could see the changes in each other immediately. He promised me right then and there that he would stop trying to win me over, wouldn't compete with me anymore, and that he would be there for me in whatever way I needed him for as long as I needed him. He has been true to his word and I have found that he is actually a good person, that he just had a troubled past and expressed it differently than I did. He is now going to therapy and convinced me to go to talk to someone as well. You have nothing to worry about because I don't love him and I will never feel for him what I feel for you. He knows that the only thing that kept me alive in that hellhole was the thought of getting back to you. So that is that and I don't really want to talk about it any more."

"Ok," said James simply. After having to consider the possibility of Lily dying, nothing else really seemed like an issue, not even her falling in love with someone else. "So I wanted to tell you something in person, so please don't yell at me for telling you sooner."

"What is it?" asked Lily curiously.

"Frank proposed to Alice!" he said excitedly. "And Alice was absolutely dying that she can't write you a letter, so she gave me this to give to you. But before you read that, I also need to tell you that Marlene and Sirius are back to dating, though they think no one knows about it, but actually everyone knows about it. And I think there's probably something about it in this letter that Marlene asked me to give to you. And also here are letters from Sirius and Peter too."

"What?" exclaimed Lily ecstatically. "You have to tell me more about Alice and Frank first! He proposed?"

"Yeah," chuckled James. "In the middle of the Auror office. Apparently she accidentally found the ring in his desk in his cubicle so then he decided to give it to her."

"Aww, that's cute," Lily smiled genuinely, her green eyes lighting up in a way that James was afraid they never would again. "When's the wedding?"

"I don't know, maybe it's in her letter."

"And Sirius and Marlene are back to dating? I guess I owe you a million galleons then," she joked. "I can't believe that they would do that when they know how it has ended in the past!"

"But on the contrary, how could they not when they were living together and taking care of her baby together? They were bound to fall into bed with each other sooner or later."

"I suppose that's true," sighed Lily. "Do you remember when we were all out shopping on Diagon Alley and Sirius was holding Grace and some old witch told him that Grace has his eyes?"

James laughed. "Was that before or after those two girls who were barely out of Hogwarts drooled all over him and Marly hexed them both?"

"It was definitely afterwards," joked Lily. "Have you seen Grace lately? She must be getting so big!"

"She is beautiful and she smiled at me the last time I saw her a few days ago. She isn't talking yet but Sirius thinks it might be soon even though Marlene says that it's like nine months early. I think Marlene put a couple of pictures of her with your letter."

"That's so sweet of her! I'm so glad that she seems to be adjusting so well. Any other news from home? How about Peter and Beth?"

"I haven't heard much from Peter lately, so I think he and Beth are doing really well."

"How is your dad?"

James gulped; he knew she would get to that question sooner or later. "Well, he's dying. You know that."

"In your last letter, you said that he was worse than ever."

"Well, he was doing better once he heard that you were… home, and every time I read one of your letters to him he perked up a bit, but he was already beating the odds by living this long and I think he can't hang on much longer. He asked me to bring you to see him one last time. I know that Dumbledore would forbid it, but my dad really cares about you and he wants to say good-bye."

"Of course I'll come," said Lily softly as she brushed away the tear that had formed in the corner of James's eye. "Let's go right now. I think I can even manage to apparate the two of us there."

"Ok, you're sure that you can handle it?"

"Yes, I'm absolutely positive. The one thing that is back to normal for me now is my magic."

"Let's go then, my mum will be happy to see you too. She is so sorry that she didn't get to see you in St. Mungo's but my dad was doing so poorly while you were gone and she didn't want to leave him."

"I totally get it. Now hold my hand tightly and let me concentrate."

James took a deep breath, hoping that she really was up to the task and he wasn't about to get splinched somewhere over Europe…

And then before he knew it, he and Lily were being hugged and kissed by his mother and standing outside of his dad's bedroom.

"Oh Lily, I'm so sorry about all of that wedding nonsense! I was horrible to you and I am so so sorry!" Mrs. Potter gushed as she nearly smothered Lily with affection.

"Mum, you have to let her breathe," said James softly. "She's still a bit… delicate."

"Oh! Of course my dear! How silly of me…"

"How's dad doing?" James interrupted what he was sure would be another string of apologies.

Marilyn sobered immediately. "I think it's the end. I just sent owls to your Uncle Harry, Auntie Eileen, and Sirius. They should all be here soon. But why don't you two go in now."

Lily nodded, her face blank. James grabbed her hand for support and led her into the bedroom after a soft knock.

Four months ago Lily would have gasped at the form of Mr. Potter lying on the bed, but she knew that she had looked just as horrible when she arrived at St. Mungo's. The room was almost completely dark, lit only by a dim lamp in the corner. Even so, Lily could see that he was shriveled and his skin was yellowish, dry, flaky, and hung on his form like a baggy old wool sweater.

"Hi Dad," said James quietly as he sat in the armchair that was all too familiar to him by now.

Mr. Potter's eyes fluttered open and his gaze fixed on James to show that he was listening. It took far a lot of energy for Christopher to talk, so he didn't waste any words.

"Christopher," said Lily, tears already streaming down her cheeks, as she knelt by his bed and took his hand in hers.

"Lily," said Christopher whispered slowly in a raspy voice. "You're safe."

"Of course I am, of course I am."

"Getting married?"

"I am absolutely still going to marry your son. He is the only person getting me through all of this. He has kept me alive for years, now more than ever. He ismo chuisle, my life blood."

Christopher smiled and looked peaceful.

"Thank you for giving me a home and most importantly, thank you for accepting me into your family. I will never forget that and I will never forget all of the things we have talked about. And I will take good care of your son. I love you Christopher."

"Love you Lily," said Christopher with great effort as he closed his eyes.

"Be at peace," she said softly. She kissed his forehead and stood up and walked over to James and stood behind his chair, putting a comforting hand on James' shoulder. He shrugged her off and went over to his dad, visibly crying.

"Dad."

"My son," gasped Christopher as his eyes slowly opened again. "So proud you."

"I know Dad, I know. You were a great dad. I know I didn't always say that, and sometimes I said the opposite, but you were still a great, great dad. I wouldn't be who I am today without you. I'm going to miss you; please don't leave me."

"I'm old. It's my time. I go happy."

"Stay with me," James begged him.

"You're good man. Member what I taught you. Love you."

There was a knock at the door and Sirius gingerly walked in. James continued kneeling by his dad's bedside as his brother took the place right next to him.

"Mr. Potter," said Sirius as he choked back tears.

"Dad," Mr. Potter corrected him.

And then Sirius lost it, as he openly sobbed. "You changed my life. You _saved_ me. You were the dad I always wanted and never had. When I have a son I am going to name him after you because I want him to grow up to be even half the man that you are."

"Take care of you, baby, and Marly. Be good man. Love you."

"I will," he sobbed. "I will."

Sirius wiped his eyes, patted James on the back and sat in the armchair James had just abandoned.

Moments later, Eileen and Harry drifted into the room, and said their heartfelt good-byes. Finally Marilyn walked in, and the circle was complete. Marilyn sat on the bed, James knelt next to it, Harry and Eileen stood together at the foot of the bed, Sirius sat in the chair, and Lily sat on his lap, unable to stand any longer.

Christopher's labored breathing, the only sound in the room, slowed until finally he breathed his last and was gone. James rested his head in his hands and cried. Sirius and Lily held each other and sobbed as a typical brother and sister would. Marilyn sat silent and numb on the bed that she had shared with Christopher for over thirty years. Harry stared at the floor as he felt the full weight of the loss fall upon his shoulders. Eileen hugged him tightly, but he didn't even feel the warmth of her body.

They stayed like that for a long time, until finally the house elves popped in to do their traditional duties. Each of the house elves bowed first to the body of their former master, and then acknowledged their new master by bowing to him and saying, "Master James," in unison. They then busied themselves with preparing the body for burial as they had done for James's grandparents.

Marilyn dried her eyes and led the way out of the room. James cast one last lingering gaze on his father, and closed the door.

It was the first time James really said good-bye to someone he loved, but it wouldn't be the last.

**Author's Note: So dear readers I threw a lot at you in this chapter and now I'm really interested in hearing what you think! Here's what I would like to know, but as always, please feel free to give me any feedback that is on your mind.**

**What do you think of Severus's rescue of Lily? What about the fact that he basically had someone killed in order to save her?**

**What do you think about Albus's decision to send Lily back to the Institute?**

**What about Sirius and Marlene getting back together? Do you think it will last?**

**How do you feel about Frank's proposal? About Frank and Alice getting married?**

**What do you think about Teddy's apparent transformation? Is it real? Will it last?**

**How do you feel about Christopher's passing? How do you think his death will affect his family?**

**I hope to hear from many of you! Until the next time,**

**-AAA**


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